Question

Find an example for how immunotherapy used for curing cancer. There is need to mention what is targeted with it and the therapeutic approach containing an associated immunological component with minimum of 150 words.

Answer 1

Doctors give prevention vaccines to healthy people to keep certain cancers from developing. Like vaccines for the chicken pox or the flu, they protect the body from viruses that can cause disease. A person has to get the vaccine before the virus infects him or her. Otherwise, the vaccine will not work.

There are 2 types of cancer prevention vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

    HPV vaccine. The vaccine protects against the human papillomavirus (HPV). If the virus is long-lasting, it can cause some types of cancer. The FDA has approved HPV vaccines to prevent:

     1. Cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancer.

     2. Anal cancer

     3. Genital warts

    HPV can also cause other cancers the FDA has not approved the vaccine for, such as oral cancer.

    Hepatitis B vaccine. This vaccine prevents hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Long-lasting infection with HBV can cause liver cancer.

    Talk with your health care team about whether you should be vaccinated against HPV and/or HBV.

Cancer treatment vaccines

Cancer treatment vaccines, also called therapeutic vaccines, are a type of immunotherapy. The vaccines work to boost the body's natural defenses to fight a cancer. Doctors give treatment vaccines to people already diagnosed with cancer. The vaccines may:

   a. Prevent the cancer from coming back

   b. Destroy any cancer cells still in the body after other treatments have ended

   c. Stop a tumor from growing or spreading