Promising mRNA Cancer Vaccine Trial Offers Hope for New Age of Treatments
A new mRNA cancer vaccine being trialled in the UK could herald the “dawn of a new age” of treatments for the disease, a scientist has suggested. With the development of emerging vaccine technology having been turbocharged by the coronavirus pandemic, British patients are among a global cohort enlisted to trial the safety and efficacy of a vaccine experts hope could lead to a new generation of “off-the-shelf” cancer therapies.
The vaccine, named mRNA-4359 and produced by Moderna, is aimed at people with advanced melanoma, lung cancer, and other solid tumor cancers. Unlike traditional vaccines that are created specifically for each individual patient in laboratories using their own genetic information, this vaccine targets specific types of cancer more broadly, allowing for quicker and easier production.
The first UK patient to receive the vaccine was an 81-year-old man from Surrey with malignant melanoma skin cancer that is not responding to treatment. He expressed his gratitude towards the hospitals and individuals running the trials, stating, “Somehow we have to change the fact that one in every two people get cancer at some point, and we have to make the odds better.”
The vaccine will be tested alone and in combination with an existing drug called pembrolizumab, also known as Keytruda. The trial, known as Mobilize, aims to recruit between 40 and 50 patients globally, including in London, Spain, the US, and Australia. The mRNA in the vaccine “teaches” the immune system how cancer cells differ from healthy cells and mobilizes it to destroy them.
Dr. Kyle Holen, head of development, therapeutics, and oncology at Moderna, expressed optimism about the potential of the vaccine. He stated, “We believe it could be effective in head-neck cancer, we believe it could be effective in bladder cancer, we believe it could be effective in kidney cancer… So we’re really excited about some of the early results and we hope that this brings in the dawn of a new age of cancer treatments.”
Dr. David Pinato, of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, highlighted the appeal of cancer vaccines, stating that they can provide more specific instructions to the immune system compared to immunotherapies. He explained that personalized vaccines can be effective but take weeks to make and rely on a large tumor sample. The advantage of mRNA technology is that it allows the body to produce its own instructions, awakening the immune system.
The Mobilize trial is still recruiting patients, with Moderna expecting to report results next year. Dr. Holen emphasized that the success of mRNA technology for Covid-19 vaccines has given an impetus to speed up the development of cancer vaccines using mRNA. He stated, “We’ve treated over a billion patients with our Covid vaccine, and that same technology is now being studied again in cancer patients… We’ll have probably more safety information on our cancer vaccine than any other vaccine that’s ever been created for cancer, and that makes us feel confident that we’re on the right track.”
The UK’s health secretary, Victoria Atkins, expressed optimism about the potential of the vaccine, stating, “This vaccine has the potential to save even more lives while revolutionizing the way in which we treat this terrible disease with therapies that are more effective and less toxic on the system.”
While experts are unsure why some patients respond well to vaccines and others have a poor response or none at all, the progress in mRNA technology and the promising results from trials provide hope for a new era of cancer treatments. With ongoing research and advancements in vaccine technology, there is optimism that these vaccines could revolutionize the way cancer is treated, offering new hope to patients worldwide.
