Vaccines

There are various vaccines that can be used in cancer treatment. Vaccines are prepared at a laboratory. There are various types, such as vaccines containing dead tumor cells, or ones bits of DNA. These vaccines are given in order to create an immune reaction of the body against the cancer cells. The activated immune cells will be able to attack the cancer cells after the vaccination. 

One therapeutic strategy through vaccines is dendritic cell activation. These dendritic cells can activate the immune cells. Dendritic cell precursors are removed from the body and trained to activate immune cells against cancer in a lab. 

The trained dendritic cells are returned to the patient in a vaccine, where they can activate the immune system against cancer cells, causing them to be destroyed. Vaccines as a cancer treatment is currently only available through participation in clinical trials.