Building a Melanoma Vaccine

Researches have recently trained mouse immune systems to eradicate skin cancer from within. They use genetic combination of human DNA from melanoma cells and a cousin of the rabies virus. The strategy used is called cancer immunotherapy. It uses a genetically engineered version of the virus to deliver a lot of genes derived from melanoma cancer cells directly into tumors. In the mice studies 60 percent of tumor-burdened mice were cured in less than three months! Building caner vaccines from tumor DNA is beneficial because tumors can adapt to the repeated attacks of a healthy immune system and display fewer antigens. While cancers can learn to hide from a normal immune system, it appears unable to escape an immune system trained by the DNA. I found this interesting because if scientists continue to work with this hopefully they can improve it and come up with a sure cure for melanoma cancer. This would help thousands of people, especially now a days since the sun is getting stronger.