Radio Smart Talk for Thursday, June 30:

It's what every cancer researcher dreams of – the "cure" – a vaccine that reduces or even eliminates cancerous tumors.

No such vaccine exists, of course, and as we've explored previously in our Facing Cancer Together conversations, there's no perfect formula to treat any form of cancer. Each form and each patient is treated (and responds to that treatment) differently.

And yet we're always excited when a step forward is taken in cancer research that suggests some future "cure" could be out there.

Such is the case with a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine, which describes efforts to develop a vaccine to treat some forms of cancer. Scientists from the United States and Great Britain report, in early tests of mice with prostate cancer, an experimental vaccine was able to shrink tumors. The vaccine in question was developed through a technique that uses DNA taken from organs in which tumors can form, which in turn jump-starts the body's immune response to create the vaccine.

Research is at a very early stage – even if repeated trials yield similar results, it will be years before a vaccine could be tested in human beings. Still, it's exciting.

We'll learn the latest in this effort to develop techniques that use our own immune system to treat cancer.

Also with the Fourth of July weekend approaching, we'll look at Pennsylvania fireworks laws and safety. 

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