Vaccines aim to reduce colon cancer risk, with early trials targeting Lynch syndrome

A promising new step in the fight against cancer

Doctors are testing vaccines they hope could stop colon cancer before it ever has a chance to develop in people at very high risk

The focus is Lynch syndrome, an inherited genetic condition that greatly increases the risk of colorectal cancer and several other types of cancer

Right now, three experimental vaccines are in development, two in U.S. clinical trials and another in Britain

Researchers hope the shots can train the immune system to recognize and destroy abnormal cells before they turn into cancer

So, in a sense, we are teaching the immune system to recognize those proteins early on the process of the tumor formation

So our immune system is prepared and trained to eliminate those cells before they grow further

The lifetime risk of colorectal cancer is about 5% for the general population

For someone with Lynch syndrome, that risk can climb as high as 80%

Until better prevention is available, people with Lynch syndrome are still urged to get yearly colonoscopies to help catch cancer as early as possible

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