The Pat Kenny Show An exciting development happened in the world of immunology
Nov 6, 2025
Professor Luke O'Neill, a leading immunologist from Trinity College Dublin, delves into the fascinating intersection of COVID vaccines and cancer treatment. He reveals groundbreaking data showing lung cancer patients who received mRNA vaccines have doubled their survival rates. Dive into discussions about why some immune systems fail to respond and how RNA vaccines could revolutionize treatments for other diseases like malaria and HIV. O'Neill also touches on genetic sequencing of tumors to develop targeted vaccines and the potential connections between shingles vaccination and Alzheimer's risk.
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Conference Hit By US Travel Issues
- Luke O'Neill attended an immunology conference in Vancouver and noticed many Americans were absent due to US travel restrictions and a government shutdown.
- The organiser was devastated because attendance and recruitment were badly affected.
mRNA Vaccines Boost Immunotherapy
- COVID mRNA vaccines appear to boost cancer immunotherapy outcomes, doubling survival in some lung and melanoma patients.
- The vaccines trigger interferons that wake the immune system and help checkpoint inhibitors attack tumours.
Interferons Explain The Effect
- The mechanism involves interferons produced by the vaccine mobilising immune responses against tumours.
- Mouse experiments show COVID vaccine can cure tumours in animals, supporting the proposed mechanism.