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DudoVene t1_j1pxfc1 wrote

hi. cancerous cell may exhibit different receptors in their membrane (exposed to extracellular media) than healthy cells. in some cancer, thoses receptors may allow the cell to "refuse" to kill themselves (and so clear the ill cell) by a natural mechanism.

consequently, antibodies (wherever they came, naturally produced by the body, or by RNA vaccines) that targets thoses receptors should be able to recognize a cancerous cell in a normal population and engage the immune system in the elimination of the cell.

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cryptotope t1_j1s2147 wrote

This is correct, but I don't think it quite answers the OP's question.

I believe they're asking why, if those cancer-specific cell surface markers are already present on the surface of malignant cells in the body, the immune system doesn't generate antibodies to them.

In other words, what's special about an mRNA vaccine and the way it presents tumor-associated antigens to the body that prompts an immune response and antibody generation, when those same antigens don't do anything by themselves when they're sitting on the surface of a cancer cell?

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adamgerges OP t1_j1ta63g wrote

as the other commenter said, this doesn’t answer the question of why need the mRNA vaccine to activate that response from the immune system when those chemicals are already present in cancerous cells in the body

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DudoVene t1_j1umq3p wrote

you're absolutely right and apologize for it. read too quickly!

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