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Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

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Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#51
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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This does not appear to be a preventative treatment. It treats existing melanoma by inducing the body to produce antibodies against it, no?

It's also personalized, which to me says that it's unique and each could have different likelihood of autoimmune response.

   The vaccine works by instructing the body to make up to 34 “neoantigens.” These 
   are proteins found only on the cancer cells, and Moderna personalizes the 
   vaccine for each recipient so that it carries instructions for the neoantigens 
   on their cancer cells.

Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#52

If this turns out to work as promised, in a idealistic universe, Moderna gets a big influx of money from all countries in the world and they immediately publish details and surrender any patent allowing the treatment to be produced worldwide and be affordable for everyone.

It's not a general vaccine , but a tailored one aimed at people being treated for cancers that have a high risk of it coming back. So it's not something that can just be handed out to everyone. I agree though if a general vaccine is created. I'm really looking forward to a future where this and heart disease or just merely annoying.

In particular:

   The vaccine works by instructing the body to make up to 34 “neoantigens.” These 
   are proteins found only on the cancer cells, and Moderna personalizes the 
   vaccine for each recipient so that it carries instructions for the neoantigens 
   on their cancer cells.

Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are maybe no effects that we know about right now. Different people have different opinions on what their risk tolerance is, so there could be people that may outright disagree with your statement. And there were even fewer such effects when the vaccines have rolled out back in 2020 with emergency approval, but without being used “in production” beforehand. Now we know much more about the mRNA platform, but I s…

You should do the healthy things to avoid cancer in the first place, but once you are diagnosed with a cancer with high mortality rate, it's a whole different calculation in terms of risks vs benefits compared to Covid-19.

Indeed. My view on vaccines is that they are not a cure but act as prevention agents.

Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#54
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This does not appear to be a preventative treatment. It treats existing melanoma by inducing the body to produce antibodies against it, no?

It is intended for people who’ve had high-risk melanomas removed, to prevent cancer from coming back.

You’re both right. It’s preventative, not prophylactic.

We’re strict with the latter because they’re administered to healthy adults. That doesn’t apply here. If you took every coronavirus mRNA vaccine side effect and multiplied the severity and frequency by two orders of magnitude, this vaccine would still be worth it for many with melanoma.

Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of side effects?

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> but the ones for the CV vaccine were listed on many pages of tiny text (both from Pfizer and from Moderna).

A whole bunch of OTC drugs carry CYA lists like this, it's not the gotcha you think it is.

> but to me as a healthy 40yo person, with no known immunity issues, not overweight etc.

My father is getting a stent put in for a 70% artery blockage. Older of course but skinny, looks after his health, exercises. He had no symptoms like pain or being out of breath. Just high cholesterol.

A friend of mine in his early 30's healthy nearly got taken out by RSV last year because it aggravated a heart condition he was unaware of.

People aren't as healthy as they like to convince themselves they are.

Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#57

Should this really be called a “vaccine”? I feel like that is going to give people the wrong impression about what it does. I think labelling it gene therapy, immune therapy, or something like that would be closer to what it actually does. Also really interested to see if people will need and/or benefit from periodic re-treatment. I guess they can figure that part out if it makes it to market.

Yes this should really be called a vaccine. A vaccine is a preparation that stimulates the body's immune response against diseases. For example, a specific vaccine injection (such as a flu shot) can boost the body's own immune system to help protect against a specific disease (such as the year's flu variant).

Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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You haven’t written anything of substance but antivax fearmongering.

I have to disagree with this, clearly visible under my profile. In general I try to stay clear of any vaccine debates, in general because of being labeled in certain ways I don’t identify myself with at all.

Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#59
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This does not appear to be a preventative treatment. It treats existing melanoma by inducing the body to produce antibodies against it, no?

It is intended for people who’ve had high-risk melanomas removed, to prevent cancer from coming back.

The reason preventative treatments are held to a higher standard is because they are given to a very large number of people who might never get the disease anyway. Hence, a 1 in 1000 risk is significant. If you are treating people who have had cancer, their risk of getting it again in much higher than 1 in 1000.

Re: Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine works better than thought

#60
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a key difference here that cancer mRNA vaccine you are taking after you've been diagnosed with cancer. Otherwise for Coronavirus vaccines you couldn't argue that risks are much smaller for any given person under any given conditions. E.g. a person could be completely isolated for the next 10 years and have virtually 0% chance of getting Covid-19, so in this case there's no calculation that could show a vaccin…

Otherwise for Coronavirus vaccines you couldn't argue that risks are much smaller for any given person under any given conditions. E.g. a person could be completely isolated for the next 10 years and have virtually 0% chance of getting Covid-19, so in this case there's no calculation that could show a vaccine being with more favourable benefits/risks. Well yes, in completely absurd and unrealistic situation the risk…

> Well yes, in completely absurd and unrealistic situation the risk of taking vaccine might be larger than that of Covid-19.

What about a person living in simple solitude who works remotely and orders everything in? This is a realistic, non-absurd scenario and they would possibly risk getting Covid-19 on their way to the appointment of getting the vaccine.

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