by The first patients in the UK have received a revolutionary cancer vaccine as part of a global trial.
Scientists are using the mRNA technology behind Covid jabs to create new vaccines that could treat and even cure cancer.
The vaccine works by highlighting specific protein markers on cancer tumor cells on the immune system so that the patient’s own defenses interfere and attack the cancer, which would otherwise go undetected.
Health officials said the NHS was “at the forefront of cancer vaccine trials”.
The trial is being led by scientists at Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust and Imperial College London, who said it was the first in the UK to test the jobs, administering them to British patients at Hammersmith Hospital, in west London.
The study will assess the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness against lung cancer, skin cancer and other “solid tumors,” researchers said.
The first person to receive the vaccine, known as mRNA-4359, was an 81-year-old Surrey man with skin cancer. After limited success with other treatments he took part in the trial and said “we have to change that one in two people get cancer”.
Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, said the “groundbreaking development” could make a difference to “countless lives”.
“The vaccine has the potential to save more lives and revolutionize the way we treat this terrible disease with more effective and less toxic therapies,” she said.
“It underscores our position as a life sciences superpower and our commitment to research and development,” she said.
Scientists ‘excited’
The mRNA therapy is one of two main types of cancer vaccine that scientists around the world are developing, but this is the one they are “excited about” because of the way it could revolutionize cancer treatment.
The other type of cancer vaccine being developed must be “personalized” and genetic material must be taken from a person’s saliva to create a specific job for them.
Experts hope that the mRNA cancer vaccines will act as “ready” and “off the shelf” jabs that can be given to multiple patients with a specific type of cancer, rather than being personalized for an individual.
It is expected that different types of mRNA vaccines will be needed to treat different types of cancer.
Unlike traditional vaccines given to prevent illnesses from infectious viruses such as measles and smallpox, they will be given to patients who already have cancer.
It is not possible to create a one-size-fits-all job for cancer as all tumors vary by type and person.
However, it is hoped that by identifying common markers on cancer cells, the vaccines will be able to target and eradicate tumors and stop them from returning. People who have had cancer are more likely to get it again or become resistant to treatment.
Experts hope that the treatment will turn into a cure for cancer.
Dr David Pinato, a consultant oncologist and scientist at Imperial College, told the Telegraph that the mRNA vaccine was “more powerful” in exposing the tumor and could be used in the future to prevent recurrence.
“We desperately need these to turn the tide against cancer. New mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies offer a new way to recruit the patient’s own immune system to fight their cancer,” he said.
“This research is still in its early stages and may be several years away from being available to patients, but this trial is laying a vital foundation stone that is moving us closer to new therapies that could be less toxic and more accurate.”
‘Vaccines could be revolutionary’
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: “The NHS is at the forefront of cancer vaccine trials, which could be revolutionary if we succeed in vaccinating people against their own cancer to prevent them from growing back after treatment. “
He said there was “groundbreaking work going on in hospitals across the country” and that he expected thousands of patients to take part in trials in the coming years.
Last year the NHS announced a “Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad” in collaboration with German pharmaceutical firm BioNTech to speed up trials of mRNA cancer vaccines, which are expected to start this year.
The early-stage Mobilize trial at Imperial is part of the Government’s partnership with another pharmaceutical company, Moderna, to develop mRNA cancer vaccines in the UK.
It will recruit hundreds of participants from the UK, USA and Australia over the next three years.
Patients will receive the vaccine alone, or in combination with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, and will be monitored for up to 34 months.
