A tailor-made cancer vaccine made from a patient’s own tumors has yielded ‘really hopeful’ results in a study of NHS patients.
None of the eight head and neck cancer patients who were at high risk of recurrence experienced a return of their tumor four months after receiving the vaccine.
For comparison, two in the control group who were not given the vaccine have already seen their cancer come back.
The vaccine, which uses similar technology to AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine, uses DNA taken from each patient’s tumor.
The genetic snippet is then inserted into a weakened virus used to deliver the bite into the body, training the immune system to recognize and fight the cancer if it returns.
It is given as a weekly vaccination for six weeks, after which patients are given booster shots every three weeks for a year.
The new numbers are too small to draw firm conclusions, but the researchers say “all the data points in the right direction.”
The technology used to make Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid vaccines is also being tested on cancer patients in the US and Europe.
A tailor-made cancer vaccine made from a patient’s own tumors has yielded ‘really hopeful’ results in a study of NHS patients. It is currently codenamed TG4050 (pictured)
More than 12,000 people in the UK and 65,000 in the US are newly diagnosed with head and neck cancer each year. They kill just over 4,000 Britons a year and 14,000 Americans.
There are more than 30 areas of the head and neck where cancer can develop, including the mouth and throat.
The new vaccine, codenamed TG4050, was developed by the French company Transgene.
Known as a “viral vector vaccine,” it uses a genetically engineered vaccinia virus, the same family that causes smallpox.
The pathogen has been weakened to the point where it cannot cause disease and has been used in vaccination programs for decades.
A piece of tumor DNA is inserted into the virus so that when it is injected into the body it can train the immune system to look for these cancer cells.
The hope is that the body can recognize them and destroy them before they can multiply and form tumors.
Doctors are optimistic about the vaccine because it’s so specific to each person’s cancer — even if it makes it more expensive in the future.
dr Maud Brandely, Transgene’s chief medical officer, said it gave patients “new hope” in the race to a cure from cancer.
Cancer mutations can vary from patient to patient, but by making a tailor-made vaccine for each patient, it should be better at targeting these mutated cells.
The vaccine is given to patients after surgery to remove tumors. It is hoped that the sting will catch cancer cells before they can even be found on a scan.
Brian Wright recently received his 10th dose of vaccine in Clatterbridge and has 10 more doses to go before January.
A year ago, Mr. Wright had a 16-hour operation to get rid of a tumor in his mouth and replace his lower jaw with bone from his leg, followed by weeks of demanding radiation therapy.
He told Sky News: “When you’ve had cancer in your throat and they say they’re going to inject you with that cancer, it just sounds… ‘Oh no, you’re not’.
“But then they explained that it’s not going to give you cancer back, it’s going to make your body immune to that cancer.”
Transgene plans to treat a total of 30 patients in the head and neck cancer study.
Half will get the vaccine once their normal treatment is over and the other half will get it if their cancer returns.
Consulting oncologist and director of clinical research at the Clatterbridge centre, Professor Christian Ottensmeier, told Sky News he was “cautiously optimistic”.
“I’m really confident, yes,” he said. “I’m pretty excited about it. All data points in the right direction.”
“The immune system can see things that we can’t see on scans,” said Professor Ottensmeier, “it’s a lot smarter than humans.”
“If we can train the immune system to select those cells that would otherwise lead to a relapse at a time when we can’t even see them, then the long-term chances of survival for our patients are much better.”
Another clinical trial of vaccination in ovarian cancer patients in France and the US is also showing promising results.
NEW JAB USES A GENETICALLY WEAK VIRUS TO TEACH YOUR CELLS HOW TO RECOGNIZE YOUR OLD CANCER
How does it work?
The vaccine, codenamed TG4050, is manufactured by a French biotech company Transgene.
DNA collected from patients’ tumors is incorporated into a harmless virus and injected into the patient.
The genetically engineered virus teaches the patient’s immune system to be on the lookout for cancer cells and, ideally, wipe them out before there is even a knot.
Doctors are confident in the vaccine because it is specifically designed to treat the patient’s individual cancer, and the DNA of the tumor cells varies from patient to patient.
What did the process reveal?
None of the eight patients who received the vaccine had a cancer recurrence four months later.
And two of the eight patients who didn’t get the vaccine relapsed, suggesting the vaccine has a protective effect.
However, the results are still too small to draw firm conclusions and more data are needed.
Is it linked to the Covid vaccines?
The Covid pandemic has accelerated vaccine development, with the Oxford team of scientists who carried out the AstraZeneca vaccine now using the same “viral vector” method to fight prostate cancer.
Viral vector vaccines use a genetically modified vaccinia virus from the same family that causes smallpox.
The pathogen has been weakened to the point where it cannot cause disease and has been used in vaccination programs for decades.
A piece of tumor DNA is inserted into the virus so that when it is injected into the body it can train the immune system to look for these cancer cells.
The hope is that the body can recognize them and destroy them before they can multiply and form tumors.
The mRNA technology in Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid syringes has also been tested for other cancers in the US and Europe.
Can it work on other types of cancer?
The vaccine is already being tested in France on patients with ovarian cancer, five of whom have received the vaccine so far.
It is hoped that it will be used in more cancers in the future if these studies prove successful.
What does this mean for the cancer treatment of the future?
dr Maud Brandely, Transgene’s chief medical officer, said the results showed the vaccine could give patients more time in remission and give cancer patients “new hope.”