Scientists have been researching, experimenting and generally doing their best to find something that will help the world battle with cancer. But sad to say, what we have after billions of dollars spend on cancer study and exploration is our health services oftentimes tormenting, invasive treatments that do not carry any guarantee.

A team of Danish researchers were pursuing a different aspect of the human health have accidentally discovered that armed malaria proteins can actually kill cancer cells. Their task was to create a new method of protecting pregnant women from malaria. What they have developed so far was a vaccine that still can’t be used on pregnant women since they can destroy the placenta but it can destroy cancer cells. This is a great fluke that may help more people than they have expected.

The vaccine works by burying into the carbohydrate in the cancer cells and releasing a toxin which eventually kills them off. These are the same kind of carbohydrates found in placenta, thus the vaccine’s inappropriateness for pregnant women.

Study shows that these carbohydrates are what makes both the placenta and cancers grow faster, so in effect, using the vaccine is basically killing cancer cells right off the source. The researchers involved in the study revealed their interest in the similarities between placenta and tumor which they believe will help them learn something that will lead them to the cure of cancers and tumors.

One scientist from the University of Copenhagen, Ali Salanti stated that “The placenta is an organ, which, within a few months, grows from only few cells into an organ weighing approx. two pounds, and it provides the embryo with oxygen and nourishment in a relatively foreign environment. In a manner of speaking, tumors do much the same; they grow aggressively in a relatively foreign environment.”

The vaccines are not yet ready for human testing but researchers assured that in the next four years, hopefully they will be ready. While there are several questions and issues as to its viability for human consumption, researchers believe they are on the right track. And though no can be sure that this will be the cure for cancer, Salanti declares that her team are quite ‘optimistic’ about the probable outcome of their research.