Positive x3

As we have mentioned on previous occasions, the COVID pandemic brought us a technology that may revolutionize medicine: mRNA vaccines.

An mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccine is a type of treatment that uses genetic instructions to teach the body how to defend itself. Instead of containing viruses or tumor cells, these vaccines carry a message that tells our cells how to produce small proteins that the immune system can recognize as a threat.

This system was successfully used in COVID-19 vaccines. In the case of cancer, the goal is to train the immune system to recognize and destroy specific cancer cells. Today, we are pleased to announce that a prestigious laboratory, BioNTech, has reported excellent results in its research to develop vaccines against triple-negative breast cancer.

But what is triple-negative breast cancer? Triple-negative breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer that does not have three common receptors: estrogen, progesterone, and HER2.

Because of this, it does not respond to many of the hormone-based or targeted treatments that work for other types of breast cancer. It represents approximately 15% of cases and is often more aggressive, with a higher risk of recurrence.

How do these cancer vaccines work? The German biotechnology company BioNTech is developing personalized vaccines for this type of cancer. The process is as follows:

1. Each patient’s tumor is analyzed to identify specific mutations.

2. Altered proteins (called neoantigens) unique to that tumor are selected.

3. An mRNA vaccine is designed with instructions that tell the body to produce those proteins.

4. The immune system learns to recognize them and attacks any cells that display them in the future.

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It is important to emphasize that these vaccines do not prevent cancer from developing in the first place. Instead, they help reduce the risk of recurrence after treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy.

Results from early clinical trials have been promising. In a small study, most of the treated patients remained disease-free for several years after receiving the vaccine along with standard treatment.

In addition, a strong and long-lasting immune response was observed. However, these studies are still in early stages, and larger trials are needed to confirm their safety and effectiveness.

When will they become available? Therapeutic cancer vaccines must go through several phases of clinical trials before being approved by health authorities. If the results continue to be positive, they could become available to some patients before 2030.

Therefore, mRNA vaccines are already here and represent an important step forward in the fight against triple-negative breast cancer. Because they are personalized and specifically targeted against tumor mutations, they offer a new strategy based on activating the body’s own defenses.

Although they are still under investigation, current progress provides real hope for the future. At One Shôt, we are reminded that just as this type of tumor may be facing its final days, news like this fills us with hope that mRNA technology can be applied to multiple types of cancer.

Today, we thank BioNTech for its work in this field, because it has brought us not only hope, but effort and science — transforming hope into empirical work and dreams into reality.

Thank you

One Shôt.

The IMpatients