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Cancer Prevention Vaccine: Benefits, Myths, and Facts
By Raveena M Prakash
Cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths across the world. Currently, cancer vaccines are one of the most promising and hopeful advancements happening in the area of cancer care. The development of cancer prevention vaccines is relatively new in the field of cancer treatments. These vaccines are rapidly gaining attention for their huge potential to reduce cancer risks. It also helps to prevent and treat certain cancers from growing.
In this blog, we’ll discover more facts about cancer vaccines, some common misconceptions and benefits of these vaccines!
What are cancer prevention vaccines?
Cancer vaccines are innovative and preventive vaccines that are designed to prevent several types of cancers, often caused by several viral or bacterial infections. But these vaccines used to target viruses or bacteria that increase the risk of developing cancer in people.
Here’s the two major types of cancer prevention vaccines, these may include:
- HPV Vaccine (Human Papilloma virus): These types of HPV vaccines help to prevent infection with the type of HPV that are most commonly associated with cervical, anal, throat and other types of cancers.
- Hepatitis B Vaccine: These types of vaccines help to prevent Hepatitis B virus infection, which can result in liver cancer also known as Hepatocellular carcinoma.
Benefits of cancer prevention vaccines
The preventive vaccines offer significant benefits by training the immune system to recognise and fight-off several cancer causing pathogens, and reducing the risk of several cancers.
Here are some key benefits of cancer prevention, these may include:
HPV related cancer prevention
The HPV vaccine protects against the high-risk HPV strains, especially HPV-16 and HPV-18, that cause most cases of cervical cancer along with cancers in the throat, anus, vulva, vagina, and even penis.
- Cervical cancers: HPV virus is responsible for about 70% of cervical cancer cases. The vaccine protects against the high- risk HPV strains like HPV 16 and 18, these tend to cause cancers.
- Other cancers: In addition to other types of cancers like cervical cancer, getting HPV virus infection can often lead to several cancers in the throat, anus, vulva, vagina, and penis. Getting HPV vaccination often helps to reduce the incidence of these cancers as well.
Hepatitis B related liver cancer
The hepatitis B vaccine helps to protect people against the hepatitis B virus, preventing the virus from causing chronic and long-term liver infections.
Cost-effective cancer prevention
Getting cancer-preventive vaccines helps to stop a cancer-causing agent before it develops into a complex disease like cancer. These vaccines reduce or eliminate the high financial and personal costs associated with the cancer diagnosis and its treatments.
Less infection and improved public health
The preventive vaccines used to protect people, especially those who are vaccinated but also the wider community, often result in improved public health conditions. These vaccines train people’s immune systems to identify and fight against specific harmful viruses that are known to cause certain types of viruses.
Common myths about cancer vaccines
Cancer vaccines are aimed at treating or preventing various cancers by training the body’s immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells based on the specific antigens present on the cancer cells. But there are some common myths about tehse vaccines that are widely spread but actually false.
Some of these common myths about these vaccines, may include:
Myth 1: The HPV vaccine cause infertility
Many studies have shown that these HPV vaccines do affect infertility. The vaccine has undergone various testing and has been shown to be safe and effective in preventing HPV-related cancers without causing any issues on fertility.
Myth 2: Cancer prevention vaccines guarantee cancer prevention
Cancer vaccines like HPV vaccines and hepatitis B can significantly reduce the risk of certain cancer development in people, though they are not 100% effective at preventing cancer. These will greatly lower the risk of developing cancer from several viral infections, but performing regular cancer screenings, such as Pap smear tests for cervical cancers and liver function tests for hepatitis B patients, is still essential for early cancer detection in people.
Myth 3: Only women need the HPV vaccine
Both boys and girls can receive the HPV vaccine because the human papillomavirus can cause several cancers in both genders, including anal, penile, throat, and cervical cancers. Many studies have shown that HPV can cause cancers in both men and women, while vaccinating both men and women helps to create herd immunity, which significantly helps to lower the risk of overall occurrence of HPV in the community.
Myth 4: HPV vaccines is only given to teenagers
Studies have suggested that routine vaccination is recommended at the age of 11 to 12, while the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all people above the age of 26 who were not vaccinated earlier should get the HPV vaccine. These might be considered beneficial for people.
The Future of Cancer Prevention
Cancer vaccines like HPV and Hepatitis B are already available, while cancer research is advancing rapidly in the area of producing cancer-preventive vaccines. Several new vaccines are currently in development to target and destroy the growth of cancer.
Some of these vaccines are designed to:
- Target cancer cells and destroy them directly: These are therapeutic vaccines aimed at boosting the body's immune response against existing cancer cells in the body.
- Prevent other types of cancers: Cancer research is ongoing to develop a variety of cancer preventive vaccines for cancer including breast, lung and prostate cancer.
Many studies suggest that immunotherapy, including these types of preventive vaccines, is expected to play a crucial role in the future of cancer treatment and its prevention.
Consult Today
Cancer prevention vaccines, like HPV and Hepatitis B vaccines, represent significant advancements towards cancer prevention. Using these cancer-preventive vaccines offers the opportunity to reduce the risk of certain cancers, protect future generations, and save millions of rupees in healthcare and treatments.
At Oncare, we offer premium-quality cancer treatments, including advanced cancer surgeries, at affordable price ranges with an experienced cancer specialist consultation.
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then Oncare Cancer Center and book an appointment with our cancer specialist. Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several types of cancer vaccines are used for cancer prevention, and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Including:
- Sipuleucel- T(Provenge)
- Bacillus Calmette- Guerin (BCG)
- Nadofaragene firadenovac (Adstiladrin)
Many studies suggest that vaccines that are used to treat cancer are also known as therapeutic cancer vaccines. Instead of preventing disease, these are supposed to get the immune system to attack a disease of a person who has already been diagnosed with cancer.
The side effects of cancer vaccines can differ from person to person and mainly depend on the type of vaccine that is given.
These may include:
- Fever
- Chills
- Fatigue
- Back and joint pain
- Nausea
- Head ache
- Dizziness
Some types of cancer vaccines are made up of cancer cells, parts of cells, or pure antigens, which are certain proteins present on the cancer cells. In some cases, a patient’s immune cells are removed and later exposed to these substances in the lab to create the vaccines.