Vaccines from companies like Biontech have made a significant contribution to combating the Covid pandemic. Efforts are being made to cure various types of cancer by further improving that technology.
Messenger RNA vaccine was approved for the first time to prevent the Covid-19 virus. The corona vaccine was invented less than a year after the disease spread across the world. In fact, it was possible after several decades of work on that molecule. But the field of that research was cancer cure. In the wake of Covid, mRNA technology has come out of the public eye.
MRNA is often described as medical software. Because, it does not directly affect the body. Rather, it carries instructions, the effect of which can only be observed if followed.
mRNA vaccination pre-trains the body’s immune system about potential dangers. They contain many copies of a stand of specific genetic information, called messenger RNA. They are programmed in such a way that the cells are encouraged to make specific proteins. Such as abnormal proteins found in tumor cells, which have escaped the eye of the body’s immune system. “This surveillance system protects us from the inside,” said Niels Halama of the German Cancer Research Center. But there are some drawbacks and inflammation can occur in certain environments. “For example, chronic inflammation can cause structural changes in the body, and the tumor can then escape the immune system’s attention.”
To destroy such ‘invisible’ cancer cells, the immune system must first master the ability to see them. Messenger RNA makes that cell visible.
But the problem is that every patient has a different type of cancer. As a result, there is no one-size-fits-all miRNA therapy. But information molecules can be rewritten to produce the necessary proteins. The era of such personalized treatment on a large scale is slowly becoming a reality. Nils Halama said, “We expect to have such cancer treatments approved within the next 12, 24 or 36 months.” But implementing such treatment on a large scale will take a long time. It will also depend on the ability and cost of producing such molecules.”
A number of mRNA technology-based therapies are being tested worldwide for the treatment of various types of cancer, although only a few cases have been fully approved so far.
Treatment continues to improve. However, according to the World Health Organization, some type of cancer is the cause of death of about one crore people every year. The technology that gained fame during the pandemic is now being prepared for use in the treatment of cancer. Source: Deutsche Welle.