Clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are underway regarding a new vaccine for colon cancer. Rather than targeting a cancer-related virus, the vaccine “triggers the immune system to attack a faulty protein that’s often abundant in colorectal cancer tissue and precancerous tissue.”

MIT’s Technology Review published the piece, which you can read in its entirety here. Here’s a quick rundown of what the vaccine is intended to do for patients who are in danger of contracting colorectal cancer.

“[The vaccine] works by spurring the body to manufacture antibodies against the abnormal version of a mucous protein called MUC1. While moderate amounts of the protein are found in the lining of normal intestines, high levels of a defective form of MUC1 are present in about half of advanced adenomas and the majority of colorectal cancers.

The vaccine primes the immune system to monitor the gut for emerging cancers by teaching it to recognize abnormal MUC1. If an adenoma develops and begins to produce the faulty version of MUC1, the immune system will raise antibodies to attack and destroy the precancerous tissue.”

According to the Review, “The new vaccine represents the first attempt to use immunotherapy to keep cancer from forming in the first place.” Be sure to read the full article for more information on the vaccine.

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