Health - A Vaccine For Ovarian Cancer

Photograph courtesy of The BBC

This really makes me feel hopeful. Auntie Beeb tells us that an anti-ovarian cancer vaccine is showing encouraging results in early trials.

Ovarian cancer is very aggressive, and by the time you're diagnosed, you're lucky if you have five years left.

The vaccine is designed to enhance the body's own immune response to the cancer, said the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, based in Buffalo, New York.

Most patients with advanced disease respond to chemotherapy, but more than 70% die from a recurrence of the cancer within five years of diagnosis.

Three people I know had a scare over the past decade, with doctors telling them, we need to remove a cyst and check for cancer. All three turned out to be OK (thank deity) but just hearing a diagnosis like that can really ruin your fucking day, yaknow?

Further testing is required, but anything that can protect against this highly aggressive cancer is good.

Lead researcher Professor Kunle Odunsi said: "There is now compelling evidence that the immune system has the capacity to recognise and kill ovarian cancer cells.

I breathe a sigh of relief.

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