Scientists move closer to anti-cancer vaccine

Researchers in the United Kingdom have moved a step closer to developing an anti-cancer vaccine.

The new study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, found that a protein on immune cells could possibly attack tumours.

The protein could then be used to make a vaccine which could home in on the invading cancer.

The magical protein belongs to a type of cell called a dendritic cell, which is important as it presents foreign bodies to the other types of immune cells, in order to ensure that the bad stuff can be eliminated.

Scientists at Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute have been searching for the elusive proteins for over twenty years.

The researchers reckon that the same vaccination process can be used to fight malaria and HIV.

Dr. Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information, said: “Developing treatments that accurately target cancer and have few serious side-effects is one of Cancer Research UK’s top goals.

“The results of this research are an important step towards understanding how to create targeted cancer vaccines in the future.”

Source: BBC News