A UK patient with lung cancer became the first to get a new vaccine against the disease at the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. BioNTech (Mainz Germany), a German biotechnology company, created the BNT116 vaccine as an immunotherapy to treat non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It uses mRNA to give information about common tumour markers to the patient’s immune system.
This allows it to spot and fight cancer cells and stop them from coming back. This targeted approach makes treatment more precise and lowers the risk of harm to healthy non-cancerous cells, which chemotherapy often affects.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Facility at UCLH leads the phase 1 trial, which will take place in nearly 34 sites that include the USA, Turkey, Poland, Germany, The UK and Spain.
The trial aims to evaluate the safety and activity of the vaccine, both on its own and combined with chemotherapy and current immunotherapy methods. As per the records Lung cancer is the leading cause of most cancer deaths worldwide; about 1.8 million deaths in 2020 and 34800 deaths in the UK alone.
The BNT116 vaccine might help to greatly reduce these numbers by targeting NSCLC, the most common type of the disease.
“The UK’s first use of a cancer vaccine for lung cancer is a big step forward,” agreed Jesme Fox (Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, Liverpool UK). “Even with progress in finding and treating lung cancer, it’s still a tough diagnosis for many people in the UK often with a short life expectancy.”
“Cancer vaccines could change the game in our battle against this disease. They give real hope to people with cancer and might shake up how we treat it in the future.” Even if the trial looks good and gives hope to patients and doctors involved, its true success will come from how much it spreads and catches the eye of cancer specialists worldwide.
While this first mRNA trial for lung cancer is a key first step, how much it matters will depend on what future studies show. If it works, mRNA cancer vaccines could be a huge breakthrough. They could offer new hope for lung cancer patients tackling a major health problem that affects 2.5 million new people and kills 1.8 million each year.”
Reference:
Gourd E. World’s first lung cancer vaccine trial launched in the UK. Lancet Oncol http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(24)00324-3
