Vaccine May Fight Cancer and HIV

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to create a vaccine using T cells that activate a distinct part of the immune system. The vaccine could have potential treatment and prevention applications for cancer, tuberculosis and several viral diseases, including HIV.

Until now, vaccines have focused on generating antibodies to keep people from getting sick. While many of these antibody (B cell) vaccines work well, the dependence on antibodies has prompted some viruses to skirt antibody immunity, making vaccines less effective or not effective at all for some viruses.A T-cell vaccine, however, would activate another arm of the immune system to target a specific virus in the body and kill it.

The researchers first created a vaccine using the West Nile virus as its target and are now working to develop vaccines for other diseases, such as cancer, where activating T cells can be difficult. The research appears in the May issue of The Journal of Immunology.