Kochi, Sept. 13 -- Newly developed cancer vaccines are not intended to prevent the initial occurrence of the disease but to reduce the risk of recurrence in patients who have already undergone treatment, medical experts clarified at the 2nd Annual Conference of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Society (GIOS) here.
"These are therapeutic cancer vaccines designed to prevent recurrence in people who have already had cancer, not to prevent cancer in healthy individuals. They are a form of immunotherapy, specifically individualized neoantigen therapy, which trains the body's immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells," said Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan, Convener of the Research Cell, Kerala State IMA, and Chairman of the Scientific Committee, I...