When people hear ‘vaccine,’ they think flu or pneumonia. What makes a cancer vaccine different?
Vaccines that protect against infectious diseases like the flu or pneumonia are commonly made from a weakened form of the virus. It is injected into the body and causes an immune response that helps builds antibodies and T cells (killer cells) to identify and eliminate the virus.
Cancer vaccines work in a similar way in using this same principal to teach the body to go after cancer cells.
In the first episode of the new “Conversations in Cancer” video series from the Duke Cancer Institute (DCI), Duke Health medical oncologist Diane Reidy-Lagunes and DCI cancer vaccine researcher Zachary Hartman discuss cancer vaccines: what they are, how they work, and what’s on the horizon.
The video series aims to explain high-level cancer topics to the general public. Upcoming interviews will explore microplastics, cellular therapy, multi-cancer early detection tests, and more.
