The first clinical trials of a lung cancer vaccine have been launched in seven countries

The first patient in the UK has received a dose of a vaccine designed to kill the most common form of lung cancer – and prevent it from coming back. Doctors have begun testing the first lung cancer mRNA vaccine in patients, and experts have announced that it has the “remarkable” potential to save thousands of lives. The Keeper.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, responsible for approximately 1.8 million deaths each year. Survival rates for advanced forms of the disease, where the tumors have spread, are particularly low.

Now experts are testing a new vaccine that trains the body to seek out and destroy cancer cells – and then prevent them from returning. Known as BNT116 and produced by BioNTech, the vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease.

A Phase 1 clinical trial, the first human study of BNT116, was launched in 34 research centers in seven countries: UK, USA, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey. The UK has six centres, located in England and Wales, and the first patient in the UK received the first dose of the vaccine on Tuesday.

In total, approximately 130 patients – from early stages, before surgery or radiation therapy, to advanced disease stages or recurrent cancer – will be registered to receive the vaccine together with immunotherapy. Around 20 of these will be from the UK.

The vaccine uses messenger RNA (mRNA), similar to Covid-19 vaccines, and works by presenting tumor markers in NSCLC to the immune system to prepare the body to fight cancer cells which expresses these symptoms.

The goal is to strengthen a person’s immune response to cancer while leaving healthy cells untouched, unlike chemotherapy.

“We are now entering an exciting new era of clinical trials of mRNA-based immunotherapy to investigate the treatment of lung cancer,” said Dr. Siow Ming Lee, an oncologist at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), who is leading the trial in Great Britain.

“It’s simple to administer and you can pick out specific antigens in the cancer cell and then target them. This technology is the next big step in cancer treatment.”

Janusz Racz, 67, from London, was the first person to receive the vaccine in Great Britain. He was diagnosed in May and soon after began chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The scientists, who specialize in artificial intelligence, said that his job encouraged him to participate in the experiment. “I am a scientist myself, and I understand that the progress of science – especially in medicine – depends on the participation of people in such studies,” he said.

He said: “It would be very beneficial for me because it is a new procedure, not available to other patients, which will help me get rid of cancer. “

“And I can also be part of the team that can provide a proof of concept for this new procedure, and the sooner it is implemented worldwide, the better.” more people will be saved. “

Racz received six consecutive injections at five-minute intervals over 30 minutes on Tuesday at the National Institute for Health Research’s UCLH Clinical Research Facility.

He will receive the vaccine every week for six consecutive weeks, and then every three weeks for 54 weeks.

Lee said, “We hope this additional treatment will stop the cancer from coming back, because often for lung cancer patients, even after surgery and radiation, it comes back. “

He said: “I have been involved in lung cancer research for 40 years. When I started in the 1990s, nobody believed that chemotherapy worked.”

“Now we know that about 20-30% [din pacienți] stay alive in stage 4 with immunotherapy and now we want to improve survival rates. So we hope that this mRNA vaccine, in addition to immunotherapy, will provide an additional boost.”

“We hope to move to stage 2, stage 3 and then hopefully become the standard of care worldwide and save many lung cancer patients.”

The Guardian revealed in May that thousands of patients in England will be quickly included in trials of an advanced cancer vaccine in a global NHS ‘matching’ program to save lives.

Under the program, patients who meet eligibility criteria will have access to clinical trials for vaccines that experts say represent a new era in cancer treatment.

Lord Vallance, the science minister, welcomed the launch of a lung cancer vaccine trial. “This approach has the potential to save the lives of thousands of people diagnosed with lung cancer every year,” he said. “We support our researchers to be an integral part of projects that will – out advanced treatments like this one.”

Racz hopes that once his treatment is complete, he can return to running and fulfill his lifelong ambition: to complete the London Marathon.