Personalized Vaccines Against Cancer

One feature that distinguishes cancerous cells from healthy ones is a particular structure on the outer wall of every tumor cell made up of protein molecules called peptides. If the immune system could learn to sniff out these molecules, it would attack the cancer cells and maybe even destroy them. Researchers at the Tübingen University Clinic have succeeded in mapping the exact structure of specific peptides. They use this information to synthesize the protein molecules and manufacture a vaccine from it. So far, they have catalogued nearly one million different peptides. Every cancer patient has a unique combination of them. As things stand, it's very expensive to make these peptide cocktails for each individual patient. But the researchers are hoping their discoveries will soon find their way into practical treatments.