One of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the world, cancer seems unstoppable.

A novel DNA vaccine developed by scientists at the Wistar Institute and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., however, shows promising potential for the treatment of cancer.

Cancer Vaccines

Cancer vaccines are biological response modifiers, which work by stimulating or repairing the immune system's capacity to ward off infections and disease.

There are two main types of cancer vaccines:

Preventive or prophylactic vaccines, which proactively protects a healthy person from getting cancer. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and hepatitis B vaccines are two examples of preventive vaccines.

Treatment or therapeutic vaccine, on the other hand, is a form of immunotherapy that fights off existing cancers. In April 2010, the U.S. Food And Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first cancer treatment vaccine, sipuleucel-T (Provenge®), for men with metastatic prostate cancer.

WT1 DNA Vaccine Targets Key Cancer-Causing Antigen

Using modified DNA sequence, the new WT1 DNA vaccine is explicitly designed to improve immune responses against Wilm's tumor gene 1 (WT1), a tumor-associated antigen seen in several types of cancer, which experts believe plays a pivotal part in tumor development.

A cut above the rest of WT1 vaccine approaches, the latest WT1 DNA vaccine identifies the WT1 antigen as foreign to the immune system, disrupting existing immune acceptance or tolerance for it. Immune tolerance hinders autoimmunity and impedes vaccine efficacy.

"This team has developed an approach that may play an important role in generating improved immunity to WT1 expressing cancers. These immune responses represent a unique tool for potentially treating patients with multiple forms of cancer," David B. Weiner, Ph.D., a principal author of the study and Wistar Institute's Executive Vice President and Director of the Vaccine Center, stated.

Weiner also mentioned that the latest WT1 vaccine can be used in adjunct with other immune therapies, checkpoint inhibitors for best results.

The study was published in the journal Molecular Therapy.

Cancer Statistics: How Prevalent Is The Big C

In 2015, the World Health Organization reported 8.8 million cancer-related deaths worldwide.

The highest incidences of cancer mortality were seen in lung cancer (1.69 million deaths), liver cancer (788,000 deaths), colorectal cancer (774,000 deaths), stomach cancer (754,000 deaths), and breast cancer (571,000 deaths).

Approximately 14 million new diagnoses were made in 2012. Unfortunately, the figures are continuously soaring, with new cancer cases expected to shoot up to 70 percent in the next 20 years.