Editing Cancer vaccine (section)

{{Short description|Vaccine that either treats existing cancer or prevents development of cancer}}
{{about|therapeutic cancer vaccines|preventive cancer vaccine|Cancer immunoprevention}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
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A '''cancer vaccine''', or '''oncovaccine''', is a [[vaccine]] that either treats existing [[cancer]] or prevents development of cancer.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kwok M, Fritsch EF, Wu CJ | title = Cancer and COVID-19: On the Quest for Effective Vaccines | journal = Blood Cancer Discovery | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | pages = 13–18 | date = January 2021 | pmid = 34661150 | doi = 10.1158/2643-3230.BCD-20-0205 | doi-access = free | pmc = 8500734 }}</ref> Vaccines that treat existing cancer are known as ''therapeutic'' cancer vaccines or '''tumor antigen vaccines'''. Some of the vaccines are "autologous", being prepared from samples taken from the patient, and are specific to that patient.

Some researchers claim that cancerous cells routinely arise and are destroyed by the immune system ([[Cancer immunoediting|immunosurveillance]]);<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Shankaran V, Ikeda H, Bruce AT, White JM, Swanson PE, Old LJ, Schreiber RD | title = IFNgamma and lymphocytes prevent primary tumour development and shape tumour immunogenicity | journal = Nature | volume = 410 | issue = 6832 | pages = 1107–1111 | date = April 2001 | pmid = 11323675 | doi = 10.1038/35074122 | s2cid = 205016599 | bibcode = 2001Natur.410.1107S }}</ref> and that tumors form when the immune system fails to destroy them.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dunn GP, Old LJ, Schreiber RD | title = The three Es of cancer immunoediting | journal = Annual Review of Immunology | volume = 22 | issue = i | pages = 329–360 | year = 2004 | pmid = 15032581 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.immunol.22.012703.104803 }}</ref>

Some [[types of cancer]], such as [[cervical cancer]] and [[liver cancer]], are caused by [[virus]]es ([[oncovirus]]es). Traditional vaccines against those viruses, such as the [[HPV vaccine]]<ref name=Babu2010>{{cite journal | vauthors = Babu RA, Kumar KK, Reddy GS, Anuradha C | year = 2010 | title = Cancer Vaccine : A Review | journal = Journal of Orofacial Sciences | volume = 2 | issue = 3 | pages = 77–82 | doi = 10.4103/0975-8844.103507 | doi-broken-date = 1 November 2024 | s2cid = 68256825 | doi-access = free }}</ref> and the [[hepatitis B vaccine]], prevent those types of cancer. Other cancers are to some extent caused by bacterial infections (e.g. [[stomach cancer]] and ''[[Helicobacter pylori]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/news/213394-oral-vaccine-could-fight-source-of-stomach-cancers|title=Oral vaccine could fight source of stomach cancers|publisher=Vaccine News Reports|access-date=2010-06-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424103320/http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/news/213394-oral-vaccine-could-fight-source-of-stomach-cancers/|archive-date=2015-04-24|url-status=dead}}</ref>). Traditional vaccines against cancer-causing [[bacteria]] ([[Carcinogenic bacteria|oncobacteria]]) are not further discussed in this article.