"We talk about the problem of cancer in the singular, but it is not a single disease, it is a battle that has many fronts because each cancer is a different problem," said Maurizio Bendandi, an Italian scientist working at the University of Bologna who has been studying for more than 10 years the effectiveness of vaccines against lymphoma, a hitherto incurable cancer affecting the lymphatic system.

"There are a number of cancers that already have a solution, such as Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is curable in more than 70 or 80% of cases, but there are others, such as pancreatic cancer, which nevertheless has a very high mortality rate in a very short time," he explained. "If biology or Genetics managed to discover a common reason found in all cancers and the way to solve them, this battle could be won, but, today, each cancer is each cancer, different from the others and we have to attack one subject cancer at a time, with different strategies."

Bendandi acknowledged that "early detection is very important in the case of solid tumors, such as lung or colon tumors, since they can be cured with a simple surgical intervention or accompanied by small doses of radiotherapy. In the case of hematological tumors, such as lymphoma, this is not the case, unless it is very localized and has affected only one lymph node. What is normal," he said, "is that it is already widespread when it is detected.

Vaccines, great hope for lymphoma treatment

The Italian scientist reviewed the lines of research open in the field of follicular lymphoma cancer, among which he highlighted the development of vaccines. "Now, one strategy that seems to be effective is that of vaccines. Ten years ago, nobody thought that you could immunize a patient against his or her own tumor cells and it has been shown that it is indeed possible in some types of cancers, although not in all."

Regarding the cause of this disease, Maurizio Bendandi commented that "it is unknown. There is no direct connection as in lung cancer, which is closely related to tobacco consumption. As the causes are not known, it is not known whether Molecular Biology will help to recognize it".

The expert referred precisely to the achievements of this new technique. "Molecular biology is very important for recognizing the clonality of the disease and for monitoring residual disease, i.e., the tumor that may remain after treatment, especially chemotherapy, one of the main treatments for lymphomas.