Trial underway in the UK to test a new pancreatic cancer vaccine
Our Head of Research, Dr Chris Macdonald comments on the exciting news that Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital has recruited the first patient onto a clinical trial of a new vaccine, which aims to prevent pancreatic cancer returning after surgery.
A clinical trial of a new vaccine which aims to prevent pancreatic cancer returning after surgery is now underway in Birmingham.
Surgery is currently the only way to potentially cure pancreatic cancer. However, tragically, in over 75% of people the cancer returns within a year. This new vaccine aims to prevent pancreatic cancer coming back after surgery by training the immune system to destroy cancer cells.
Following promising results in earlier studies, a larger clinical trial is now underway at sites across the world, with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham the first site in Europe to start recruiting patients.
"Finally, there is hope on the horizon. We will be following the results with great interest, as the potential here cannot be understated. If this research proves successful, the vaccine could be a vital new weapon against the deadliest common cancer."
This new study will test how effective this vaccine is, in combination with chemotherapy, at preventing pancreatic cancer returning after surgery, compared to chemotherapy alone.
The vaccine is being jointly developed by BioNTech and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. This exciting new trial could provide a much-needed new treatment option for people diagnosed with the deadliest common cancer.
What is the vaccine and how does it work?
This new vaccine is an mRNA vaccine, which uses the same technology as the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, and is custom made for each patient. To make the vaccine, tumour and blood samples are collected from the patient undergoing surgery and are studied to identify proteins that are produced by the patient’s tumour but not by normal healthy cells. These proteins are then used to create a vaccine which contains instructions to make these cancer proteins.
Once the patient has been given the vaccine, their immune system identifies the cancer proteins as a threat, and destroys them. Whilst doing so, it also learns to recognise the proteins if it should see them again. If cancer cells start to regrow following surgery, the immune system should recognise and destroy them, preventing the cancer returning.
Similar vaccines are also in development to treat other types of cancer, including bowel cancer and skin cancer.
If this clinical trial is successful, this new vaccine could play a vital role in improving survival rates by significantly improving the effectiveness of surgery. It is also possible that the same technology could go on to be adapted to treat patients with more advanced pancreatic cancer that has started to spread around the body.
Dr Chris Macdonald, our Head of Research, said: “For too long, we have had so few treatment options for people with pancreatic cancer. Surgery is currently the only potential cure and yet, tragically, in 75% of cases the cancer reoccurs within a year. Finally, there is hope on the horizon. We will be following the results with great interest, as the potential here cannot be understated. If this research proves successful, the vaccine could be a vital new weapon against the deadliest common cancer.”