C-C Chemokine Receptor Seven (CCR7): Coming of Age In Vaccines

In casual conversation with non-medical individuals, it is common for them to ask: why do we not have a cure for cancer or vaccinations for all diseases? It seems somewhat logical to assume that after so many years of research that cures should be readily available, diseases in general should simply require a pill or jab and that somehow, if scientists are not deliberately hiding these cures, then they must be asleep at the wheel. A typical response to such questions focuses on the complexity of the different cancers/diseases and that there will be no “one cure fits all”. When it comes to vaccinations, there is absolutely no doubt that many vaccines are extremely effective and a multitude of publications can attest to this and cite how many lives have been saved because of our vaccination programs; indeed, vaccinations typically pop up on a list of reasons why humans today are living substantially longer than at any previous time in history.1-3 Nevertheless, there is always an overriding and to some extent embarrassing realization that despite the relative success of vaccines we still do not, for the most part, know how to make consistently effective vaccines and that often it boils down to a trial and error procedure to establish the best vaccine for a given target