Personalized Cancer Vaccine (AFTV): The Patient Journey Step by Step
From tumor tissue to vaccine: what does the patient experience in the AFTV process? Tissue collection, production in Japan, dose protocol and follow-up — all steps in this article.
The personalized cancer vaccine (AFTV), unlike standard treatments, is produced from the patient's own tumor. So what does the patient experience during this process?
1. Evaluation: your pathology and surgery reports are reviewed by the Japanese expert board; it is determined whether your tumor tissue is suitable for vaccine production.
2. Tissue preparation: tumor tissue collected during surgery or biopsy is transported under special conditions to the laboratory in Japan. For patients with a newly planned surgery, tissue is set aside during the operation.
3. Vaccine production: tumor cells are processed in the laboratory into a form the immune system can recognize. Each vaccine is unique to that patient.
4. Application: the prepared vaccine is administered subcutaneously in a multi-dose protocol. The procedure is outpatient; no hospitalization is required and the side-effect profile is very mild compared to chemotherapy.
5. Follow-up: the immune response is monitored via blood values and imaging; your follow-up plan continues with us after returning to Türkiye.
To learn your eligibility, you can upload your reports via the patient panel or find detailed information in the vaccine section at the top of the page.