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Opinion
Lisa Jarvis

There's Fresh Hope on One of the Toughest Cancers to Cure

Advances in personalized mRNA vaccines and AI-enabled detection are helping scientists finally make breakthroughs on pancreatic cancer.

A cancer product at the BioNTech research institute in Germany.

A cancer product at the BioNTech research institute in Germany.

Photographer: Andre Pain/AFP/Getty Images
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Results from a small study of a pancreatic vaccine are promising enough to merit cautious optimism. Researchers are figuring out how to train immune cells to see and destroy cancers — even devastating ones like pancreatic cancer.

Any progress against pancreatic cancer should be lauded. But the vaccine still has a lot to prove before reaching the market. And even if it gets there, it can only (for now) help a small slice of pancreatic cancer patients.