cancer vaccine
Meaning of cancer vaccine: Cancer vaccines fall into two categories, preventive vaccines against cancer-causing viruses and therapeutic vaccines that train the immune system to attack existing tumors.
Definition of cancer vaccine
A cancer vaccine is a vaccine designed either to prevent cancer from developing or to treat cancer that is already present, and the two types work in quite different ways. Preventive cancer vaccines target viruses known to cause certain cancers, such as the vaccines against human papillomavirus and hepatitis B, which reduce the risk of cancers linked to those infections by preventing the infection itself.
Therapeutic cancer vaccines instead work after cancer has developed, aiming to stimulate the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells that are already present in the body. These vaccines are designed around substances found on or produced by tumor cells, prompting an immune response directed specifically at the cancer.
Because preventive and therapeutic cancer vaccines serve such different purposes, one being given before disease develops and the other after it is diagnosed, the term cancer vaccine covers two distinct approaches rather than a single type of treatment.
Used in a sentence
The patient asked whether a cancer vaccine could be used as part of the treatment plan.
Good to know
A preventive cancer vaccine works by preventing an infection linked to cancer, while a therapeutic cancer vaccine works by stimulating the immune system against cancer that is already present, so the two serve entirely different roles in care.
Word origin
Where “cancer vaccine” comes from
Formed from Latin vacca, meaning cow, a reference to the cowpox virus used in the earliest vaccines.