NHS patients in England to be offered trials for world’s first cancer vaccine | Research against cancer

Thousands of patients in England are to be fast-tracked into groundbreaking trials of personalized cancer vaccines as part of a groundbreaking, world-first NHS ‘matchmaking’ program to save lives.

The breakthrough vaccines, which aim to provide a permanent cure, are tailor-made for each patient in just a few weeks. They are tailored to the individual’s tumors and work by telling their body to hunt and kill any cancer cells and prevent the disease from returning.

Under this new program, the first of its kind in the world, patients who meet eligibility criteria and agree to undergo a blood test and analysis of a sample of their cancerous tissue will have immediate access to clinical trials for the new vaccines which, according to experts, represent a new dawn of cancer treatments.

NHS England director Amanda Pritchard hailed the development as a “historic moment” for patients. “The NHS is in a unique position to carry out this type of cutting-edge research on a global scale,” she said.

Research into cancer vaccines is in its early stages, but trials have already shown that they can be effective in killing any remaining tumor cells after surgery and significantly reduce the risk of cancer returning.

The NHS has enrolled dozens of patients into its programme, the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, and thousands more will be enrolled at 30 NHS sites across England. The first trials are expected to focus on colorectal, skin, lung, bladder, pancreas and kidney cancer, officials said, but other forms of the disease could be added in the future.

“As more of these trials are launched in hospitals across the country, our national matching service will ensure that as many eligible patients as possible have the opportunity to access them,” Pritchard said.

Details of the project were revealed on the eve of the world’s largest cancer conference, the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) in Chicago, where tens of thousands of oncologists, health researchers and scientists will meet this weekend.

German biotechnology company BioNTech, one of the NHS partner companies in the trials, will present new preliminary data at the Asco conference tomorrow on how measuring circulating tumor DNA could help increase detection early onset of colorectal cancer.

Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, said it was “incredibly exciting” that patients would have access to personalized injections in a “game-changing” development. in the fight against cancer. “Clinical trials like this are essential to help more people live longer, better lives without fear of cancer,” he said.

The first NHS patient to join the cancer vaccine launch platform is Elliot Pfebve. The 55-year-old professor from Coventry University had no symptoms and was diagnosed with colorectal cancer after a routine check-up with his GP. He underwent surgery to remove his tumor and 30cm of his large intestine, followed by chemotherapy.

Pfebve then received his personalized cancer vaccine at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, one of several sites participating in the BioNTech colorectal cancer vaccine trial. It was designed with the same mRNA technology used to create the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine.

“With the potential of this trial, if successful, it could help thousands, if not millions, of people find hope,” Pfebve said. “I hope this helps other people.”

His vaccine was created by analyzing his tumor to identify mutations specific to his cancer. Doctors then used this data to create a personalized cancer vaccine.

“Being part of this trial was a very important decision in my life, both for me and for my family,” Pfebve said. “After going through the difficulties of diagnosis and debilitating chemotherapy, it was wonderful to be able to participate in something that could lead to a new way of treating cancer, and whether others can benefit from what the trial might discover , so that’s great, too.”

The trial’s principal investigator, Dr. Victoria Kunene, said it was too early to say whether Pfebve had been completely cured, but said she was “extremely hopeful.”

“Based on the limited data we currently have on the body’s response to the vaccine, this could prove to be a significant and positive development for patients, but more data is still needed and we continue to recruit appropriate patients for the vaccine. ‘test in order to establish this further.

Cancer vaccines are designed to induce an immune response that can prevent cancer from coming back after surgery to remove tumors, by stimulating the patient’s immune system to recognize and destroy any remaining cancer cells – and to prevent their reappearance.

“Seeing Elliot receive his first treatment as part of the cancer vaccine launch platform is a historic moment for patients and the health service as we seek to develop better, more effective ways to stop this disease,” Pritchard said.

Last month, the Guardian reported how doctors had begun testing the first personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, as experts hailed its “groundbreaking” potential to cure cancer for good.

Professor Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer at NHS England, said: “We know that even after successful surgery, cancers can sometimes come back because there are a few cancer cells left in the body, but the use of A vaccine to target these remaining cells may be a way to prevent this from happening.

“Access to clinical trials could provide another option for patients and their families, and I am delighted that, through our national launch pad, we will expand opportunities to participate in these trials for many more people, with thousands of patients expected. recruited next year.

NHS officials said the vaccines being tested in the trials were aimed at helping patients with different forms of cancer and, if successfully developed, studied and approved, could become part of standard care.