Scientists have recently formulated a vaccine to combat cancer which reduces breast tumours by in excess of 80% during tests on mice.

The vaccine operates by encouraging the immune system to recognise a type of sugar molecule that coats the exterior of the cancerous cells. The body’s immune system subsequently attacks the cancerous tumour, without damaging healthy tissue.

Additional medical tests will need to be carried out on animals ahead of the vaccine being tried on people, although clinical tests on humans could begin by 2013. The research, carried out by a team of medics at the University of Georgia, has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Geert-Jan Boons explained that the vaccine brings about an extremely strong immune system response and activates all parts of the body’s immune system to reduce tumour size.
Co-author of the study Professor Sandra Gendler said that this is the first time that a vaccine has been produced which educates the immune system to distinguish and destroy cancer cells dependant on their unique sugar structures.