What is a clinical study?
Clinical studies, also called clinical trials, involve patients who volunteer to be treated with experimental therapies in order to help doctors learn about new treatment options. Before an experimental therapy is allowed to enter clinical studies in humans, extensive laboratory work and research is conducted to study its safety and biological activity. A clinical study cannot begin without approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government body that regulates drug research. Clinical studies are crucial to the development of new treatments for diseases, including cancer.
What is a cancer vaccine?
Cancer vaccines work on the theory that a person's own immune system can be taught to fight cancer. Unlike traditional vaccines used to prevent diseases, such as measles, cancer vaccines are designed to treat existing diseases.
How do cancer vaccines work?
Normally, cancer cells continue to grow in the body without triggering the immune system to fight them. Cancer vaccines are designed to teach the body to fight cancer by helping the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
What is the difference between cancer vaccines and chemotherapy?
Cancer vaccines are designed to help the immune system fight cancer. Chemotherapy works by directly attacking the cancer cells.
What are the potential benefits of cancer vaccines?
Traditional cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy, work by attacking cells that divide quickly, preventing them from growing or multiplying. Unfortunately, healthy cells, especially those that rapidly divide such as hair, can also be harmed, which is one cause of side effects. In contrast to chemotherapy, cancer vaccines are intended to train the immune system to fight cancer without harming healthy cells, thereby causing fewer devastating side effects. It is Therion's hope that its cancer vaccines will help patients fight cancer while lessening the traumatic side effects common with most existing therapies. To date, Therion's clinical studies have consistently suggested fewer treatment-related side effects.
How can I learn more about cancer and its treatment?
A growing body of information about cancer and its treatment can be found on the Internet, including the following sites:
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health: www.cancer.gov
American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org
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