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From a definitional point of view, according to google define:cancer, cancer is - "The disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of
by artsrc 15y ago
From a definitional point of view, according to google define:cancer, cancer is - "The disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body."
From a practical point of view what would you call an agent which stimulates the immune system to attack cancerous cells?
- sliverstorm 15y agoHmm... You are correct, the book definitions seem to indicate cancer is a disease, and that you could vaccinate against cancer. I struggle with such usage of the words, perhaps as I tend to use "malaise" in place of "disease" for anything not caused by a pathogen. If we are to get deeper into the book definition, so long as you can stimulate production of antibodies that identify cancer cells, you have made a vaccine.
- natrius 15y agoI think the term you're looking for is "infectious disease".
- losvedir 15y agoI've heard people call Dendreon's new prostate cancer therapy, Provenge, a "vaccine". Interestingly, the official website doesn't mention it, but the description of it does sound sort of vaccine-like in a lot of ways: "PROVENGE is the only FDA-approved autologous cellular immunotherapy indicated for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate resistant (hormone refractory) prostate cancer. PROVENGE is designed to work differently from hormone therapy or chemotherapy. By stimulating the natural ability of your body’s immune cells to target and attack advanced prostate cancer, PROVENGE may help you live longer."