British researchers say they have developed a vaccine that appears to cure prostate cancer in mice. The vaccine works by triggering the body's own immune system to attack cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone.
The scientists, writing in the journal Nature Medicine, developed a special vaccine using the genetic code from a healthy human prostate which they inserted into a virus. When the virus was injected into cancer-ridden mice, it triggered the immune system not only to fight off the virus but also to attack the cancer cells.
Researchers have for years tried to produce a cancer vaccine that works like this one and they say it could work for a range of other cancers.
While encouraged by the results in the mice, the scientists say more research is needed, and it may be years before an effective cancer vaccine is ready for humans.