Cancer is an incurable disease, and even though with many treatments available, there is not much promise about totally eradicating it. There has been not yet a complete cure found from cancer as yet. There a latest buzz in the science world that a vaccine for cancer is produced which are in the clinical trials now.

For many years, the basic treatment for cancer included chemotherapy, radiation and radiation. It was assumed that the growth and spread of cancer resulted from a breakdown of the immune system. And in a broken-down immune system, effective anti-cancer immune responses could not occur. But lately it has been found that it is only the partial story .In order to fight cancer it is important to have healthy immune system. Hence the scientists are trying hard to generate healthy immune system. To keep us healthy, the immune system must be able to ignore normal cells and recognize and attack abnormal ones, to the immune system, cancer cells differ from normal cells in very small ways and hence tend to tolerate them. Although tolerance is essential function of the immune system, tolerance of cancer cells is a problem and dangerous. Cancer vaccines must not only provoke an immune response but stimulate the immune system strongly enough to overcome its usual tolerance of cancer cells.

• It has been found that cancer cells shed certain types of molecules that inhibit the ability of the body to attack cancer cells. Following which cancer cells become less visible to the immune system. Hence an important way to stop the immune system in working this way to make tumor antigens more visible to the immune system. This can be done in several ways:
• Alter the structure of a tumor antigen slightly and make it look more foreign and give the altered antigen as a vaccine. Alteration involves gene modification. Now these modified genes are put into the viral vector and use the virus as a vehicle to deliver the gene to cancer cells or to normal cells. Cells infected with the viral vector will make much more tumor antigen than uninfected cancer cells and may be more visible to the immune system.
• Otherwise cells can be infected with viral vector in the lab and these can be given to the patients as vaccine
• Put genes for other molecules that normally help stimulate the immune system into a viral vector along with a tumor antigen gene.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any cancer vaccine as a standard treatment for any type of cancer. Hence cancer-fighting vaccines are only available to those who enroll in clinical trials.

The FDA has, however, approved two vaccines that can help prevent cancer. One of these vaccines prevents infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes almost all cervical cancers. The other vaccine prevents infection with the hepatitis B virus, which can cause liver cancer. Other vaccines that may prevent or reduce the risk of cancer are also being tested in ongoing clinical trials.

ANTITUMOR VACCINE: These vaccines enable a complete destruction of different malignant and benign tumors by its vast and strong antitumoral properties. This distinct property is formed by combination of telomerase antigen imitators and 40 other tumor specific antigen imitators. The antigens, which are imitated by the drug, are present in cells of the most common malignant and benign tumors. One of the drugs which is formed now is RESAN - THE ANTICANCER VACCINE, has shown an amazing results in fighting against cancer. When the drug is given to the patients with cancer a numerous replica of antitumor lymphocytes are formed which develops antitumor immunity which could lead to a complete destruction of the tumors, relapses do not occur, due to the formation of the immunological memory.

The chance of the complete destruction of a tumor depends on:
• Number of tumor cells and their size and also their mitotic activities.
• Type of tumors which is differentiated by its structures, antigen structures, the number of HLA-A class molecules on tumor cells.
• Initial state of the immune system.

In case of malignant tumors they are most effective when they used in combination with surgical resection of a primary tumor which, depending on the stage of the cancers, results in to a complete destruction of tumor in most of the cases. In this case the drug acts as antimetastatic drug. RESAN vaccine when used in the complex therapy of inoperable malignant tumor (T3-T4) can give a considerable therapeutic effect.

The drug is proved to be safe as don't render any toxic effect in normal cells of an organism
They have no mutagenic and teratogenic effect and does not contain any cells and tissues of tumors. The functions of imitating particular fragments of tumor antigens are because of the presence of glycoprotein.

SIDE EFFECTS OF THE DRUG

The side effects are similar as in case of normal vaccinations. The general symptoms may be from mild cough, sneeze, urticaria, sometimes bronchial asthma and anaphylactic shock. The general symptoms of the side effects may be due to the presence of an underlying infection. In such cases, the patients, within 7-10 days after vaccination, may feel weakness, nausea, sometimes joint pains. The drug is not recommended during pregnancy and during 3-4 weeks after acute infectious diseases.

In the patients suffering from an arterial hypertension, arterial pressure rises up within 1-3 weeks after vaccination. All the patients should be under the doctor's observation during the administration of the drug. In case of allergic reactions, the further administration of the drug should be stopped, and should use antihistamine drugs.

WARNINGS:

To get the necessary result, the level of leucocytes in peripheral blood in empty stomach should be not less than 4.5•109 per liter and lymphocytes should be not less than 18%. If the patient, within last 3-6 months, had undergone chemotherapy, radiotherapy or were under immunosuppressors, then the most favorable immune answer may not be developed, as the immune system is being suppressed where with normal cells also being affected during the above processes. Hence needs 3-6 months to recover the immune system.

RESAN is not used for immunotherapy of cerebral tumors and neuraxis because the immunocompetent cells normally do not penetrate through the hematoencephalic barrier.

DURATION OF ACTION:

The antitumor immunity is formed on 7-14 days after the vaccination and is maintained till the next revaccination period. The next dose usually is taken after 6 months.
Administration of RESAN helps to prevent the formation of malignant tumors in many people, especially in those having the family history. It helps prevent malignancy and to avoid surgery's in a number of benign tumor patients; they help in preventing relapses after the surgical treatment of malignant tumors. They widely help in reducing pain in cancer patients and thus improving general health conditions and daily life-style.

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