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Cancer therapies are getting a makeover

By Vanessa Chalmers, Health Features Editor

Cancer is no longer a death sentence when diagnosed, thanks to the ongoing emergence of treatments that can extend lives as well as better detection methods to find the disease earlier.Scientists have learned a lot about the immune response to cancer and are now harnessing it.When we hear the word vaccine, we typically think of it as preventing disease.But in this case, vaccines are being used as a treatment. Once injected they train the immune system to recognise and fight cancer cells. The body itself is recruited to kill the cancer, rather than relying on medicines.The process leaves healthy cells untouched, unlike chemotherapy, which kills healthy tissue and causes debilitating symptoms. NHS England's national cancer director, Dame Cally Palmer, said cancer vaccines being trialled could mark a huge step in treating the disease.There are also personalised vaccines which are designed specifically for an individuals cancer, based on their genetics.The challenges with personalised vaccines and other hugely advanced cancer therapies is they are very expensive to develop - and the question is whether the NHS will be able to afford such therapies when they come to fruition.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/30417145/cancer-vaccine-stops-tumou rs-growing-advanced-disease/