A vaccine that contains antibiotics to counter the growth of skin cancer cells is now being studied to fight against the deadly disease. According to Allure, the vaccines against skin care are now being formulated in the United States and Germany. These vaccines are given to patients who are in the middle of recovering from surgeries. These antibiotics are reportedly expected to fight cancer cells and counter the tumor growth within the skin.
Researchers in the United States created custom antibiotics that have the ability to speed up the production of T-cells in the immune system.
These T-cells take charge of fighting skin cancer cells, the article noted.
Out of the six patients that had the experimental vaccine, four of them reportedly did not experience any relapse. The two other patients had their tumors growing back, but had a “complete remission” after receiving the T-cell boosting treatment, Allure added.
Cancer immunologist Cornelis Melief said in the report that the vaccines are potentially game-changers, noting how the patients whom these treatments were tested “experienced clinical benefit.”
How it works
Allure quoted Joshua Zeichner, cosmetic and clinical research director in New York City, who stated that the results of the test were innovative.
“Many of our skin cancer medications work from the external to the inside, either scraping the cancer cells away or cutting them out.
But the latest forms of cancer treatments now work from the internal then out, providing the immune system with a boost to fight these cancer cells,” the Mount Sinai Hospital director said in the report.
During the test held in Germany, scientists created the vaccine and tried it to 13 patients. Out of the 13, eight did not show any visible tumors during the treatment.
Allure also noted that they were free of the tumor for more than a year.
Five of the patients in Germany reportedly had the tumors spreading further, but two patients had their tumors shrinking and the other patient was given with an inhibitor, the article mentioned.
Promising treatment
The Allure report also quoted George Washington University Medical Center clinical professor Elizabeth Tanzi who revealed when the vaccine can officially be used.
According to Tanzi, it could take up more years before the value of the vaccines can be seen.
She added that the experimented treatments can be promising, but made it a point to say that “there is no vaccine to stop skin aging.”
