How Covid-19 technology will help fight cancer

The messenger RNA (mRNA) technology used in Moderna and Pfizer vaccines against Covid-19 could also be used to fight cancer, according to experts.

"Cancer cells produce proteins that can be targeted by mRNA vaccines. "Progress in this area has been reported in the treatment of melanoma," Dr. told Healthline. Jeffrey A. Metts, Chief of Staff at the Cancer Treatment Centers in America in Atlanta. "However, treating cancer is different from preventing cancer. "We have seen a decline in cervical cancer achieved through awareness, screening and administration of the HPV vaccine in the last 10 years," Metts said.

"The HPV vaccine has shown that we can prevent 80% to 90% of cervical cancer and this is a very effective strategy in relation to cancer. But it does not treat him, "he added. Cancer vaccines, however, blur the line between prevention and treatment.

A traditional inoculation, such as vaccines for Covid-19, helps the body's immune system recognize and attack viral cells. A cancer vaccine works similarly, teaching the body's immune system to recognize cancer cells, preventing cancer from coming back, or looking for and destroying tumors in the body as an immunotherapy.

So will we have a future where cancer is cured through mRNA vaccines, or is it at least more curable? The answer is optimistic, "maybe."

"It's still early, but it's considered a promising new area for drug development," Anna Barker, chief strategy officer at the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformational Medicine at the University of Southern California, told Healthline.