World-First Lung Cancer Vaccine: What Could It Mean for Lung Cancer Patients?
Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the US, accounting for a staggering one in five cancer deaths across the country. However, there may be hope on the horizon for people with lung cancer, and it’s a vaccine called “BNT116”.
Unlike traditional vaccines, BNT116 is based on a type of genetic therapy – mRNA technology – and could be a significant step forward for cancer treatment. But how do mRNA vaccines work, and how could BNT116 help lung cancer patients? Although this is a rapidly shifting area of medical technology, let’s look at what we know so far.
What Are MRNA Vaccines?
An mRNA vaccine “trains” your body how to fight diseases. Although the science is complex, the general premise is simple.
● The vaccine contains small parts of a foreign pathogen, such as a virus or disease. It does not contain live viruses or harmful materials.
● Your body learns how to replicate the foreign material and makes copies of it.
● Your immune system recognizes the material as alien and responds by destroying the unusual cells.
How can such technology be applied to cancer treatment? The BNT116 vaccine shows your body cancer markers rather than a virus or disease. Once the body identifies these markers as foreign, the immune system can eradicate them. This means that the vaccine literally teaches the body how to kill its own cancerous cells, including lung cancer cells.
How Could the Vaccine Help Lung Cancer Patients?
There are three significant reasons why the BNT116 is groundbreaking.
● Unlike traditional chemotherapy or invasive cancer treatments, BNT116 spares healthy cells. It only shows the immune system how to target unhealthy cells, making it less invasive and less toxic to the body.
● If the vaccine is effective against later-stage lung cancer, it offers hope to the most seriously ill patients and could save more lives.
● The vaccine could teach the body how to recognize lung cancer cells in the future, reducing the likelihood of lung cancer ever returning.
Can the Vaccine Prevent Lung Cancer?
At present, BNT116 is aimed at eradicating cancerous cells and stopping the cancer from returning. So, although it may help the body fight off existing cancerous cells, there is not yet any suggestion that BNT116 can prevent the initial onset of lung cancer.
Could the Vaccine Help Mesothelioma Sufferers?
As of October 2024, the vaccine has not specifically been tested on mesothelioma patients. It has only been tested on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, mesothelioma is, technically, a type of lung cancer, albeit not NSCLC. The main difference is that it affects the tissue surrounding the lungs rather than the lungs themselves. It is possible that mRNA vaccines could help mesothelioma. However, it is still too early to be more definitive.
Contact Our Experienced Lung Cancer Attorneys
Although the mRNA vaccine is still in relative infancy, there is one certainty. It offers hope for a future where we can save more lives. But in the meantime, if you have been affected by lung cancer caused by another party’s negligence, Madeksho Law wants to know about it. Our experienced attorneys offer free, no-obligation meetings to anyone who believes they may have a personal injury claim following a lung cancer diagnosis. And we don’t charge anything unless your case is successful.
Get the support you deserve. Call Madeksho Law at 888-910-6376 or contact us online to schedule a meeting.
