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The United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) is set to conduct trials for the first personalized cancer vaccines. Cutting-edge mRNA technology will be used to personalize each vaccine to each participant. According to experts, these vaccines mark a new era in cancer treatment.
To date, thirty hospitals have joined the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, aiming to speed up the process of enrolling patients into cancer vaccine trials. As part of the initiative, patients who wish to take part must meet eligibility criteria set out by the NHS and complete a blood test as well as an analysis of a sample of their cancerous tissue. They then have immediate access to clinical trials.
The NHS has already registered dozens of patients on its launch platform, with plans to recruit thousands more. The dozens of people already registered will take part in the trials as early as 2026. NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard, who called the development a “historic moment” for patients, said in a statement: “ The NHS is in a unique position to carry out this type of cutting-edge research on a global scale “.
“ 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 “, she added. The first studies should focus on patients with cancer: bladder, colorectal, skin, lung, pancreatic and kidney. As the program progresses, research may expand to other types of cancer.
A first attempt already recorded
Details of the initiative were revealed just ahead of the world’s largest cancer conference, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) in Chicago. It was mentioned on the eve of this conference that the German biotechnology company BioNTech is now collaborating with the NHS in this context. BioNtech will subsequently present preliminary data on how measuring circulating tumor DNA could improve the early detection of colorectal cancer, which alone caused around 930,000 deaths worldwide in 2020.
The first NHS patient to join the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad is Eliot Pfebve, a 55-year-old lecturer diagnosed with colorectal cancer after a routine doctor’s appointment. After surgery (to remove his 30cm tumor in his large intestine) and chemotherapy, he received his personalized cancer vaccine at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. This vaccine was created using the same mRNA technology as the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It targets remaining cancer cells after surgery, thus aiming to prevent recurrence.
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The vaccine intended for Pfebve was produced after analysis of his tumor, in order to identify mutations specific to his cancer. Doctors then used this data to create a personalized vaccine. “ Being part of this trial was a very important decision in my life, both for me and for my family ” said Pfebve. “ 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 if others can benefit from what the trial could bring, so it’s great “, he added.
Dr. Victoria Kunene, principal investigator of the trial, said it is still too early to know whether Pfebve is completely cured or not. On the other hand, she says she is “full of hope”. For his part, 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 using a vaccine to target these remaining cells may be a way to prevent this from happening. “.
Although research into cancer vaccines is still in its early stages, NHS officials have said that if successfully developed and approved, they could become part of standard care for many forms of cancer. cancer.
