Vaccines are a powerful way to prime the body’s immune system to fight bacteria and viruses, so why not use them to confront another unwelcome intruder into our bodies—cancer? Researchers have tested a shot containing snippets of proteins found on breast and ovarian cancer cells, and the results are promising.
Although the study involved only 26 women and did not compare them with others given a placebo, it hinted that the boy’s immune defenses can be trained to recognize tumor cells.