Scientists have made a breakthrough in developing an anti-cancer vaccine following they used the same technology used to develop the coronavirus vaccine, which they manufacture Biontech-Pfizer Inc.The vaccine, designed specifically for each patient, can stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells.
The experts behind the development of the Pfizer vaccine have collaborated with doctors in New York City to develop a vaccine for pancreatic cancer patients, according to the British newspaper, The Telegraph.
The results of the phase I clinical trial, the first of its kind, were announced this weekend at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.
The scientists hope that these results herald a new era of treatment for other difficult-to-treat cancers, as pancreatic cancer is often known as the “poster child” of such deadly tumors.
The mechanism of action of the vaccine
And regarding the details of the experiment, underwent twenty patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which represents regarding 90% of all cases of pancreatic cancer, for the experiment.
These patients underwent surgery to remove the cancer, and following 72 hours their tumor samples were shipped to BioNTech in Germany for treatment and individual vaccine, which is administered intravenously to the patient.
The patients also received immunotherapy to help boost their response.
In the footsteps of the Corona vaccine
The new vaccines use mRNA, a genetic code from the tumor, to teach the body’s cells to make a protein that stimulates the immune response, the same technology used in the Corona vaccines produced by the company Pfizer-BioNTech.
The body then learns that the cancer cells are actually foreign and sends T cells to search for them and kill them if they come back.
Corona vaccine from Pfizer
promising results
Sixteen patients received the first of nine doses of the vaccine nine weeks following surgery, and half of these produced a significant immune response.
Also, all eight patients were cancer-free at 18 months, suggesting that T cells activated by the vaccine stop cancer recurring.
However, eight patients did not respond to the vaccine, while six saw their cancer recur following just over a year, and researchers are still investigating why half of the group did not respond.
Cancer cells (iStock)
Prof Ozlem Turise, co-founder and medical director of BioNTech, said only five per cent of patients with pancreatic cancer responded to treatment.
“We are committed to meeting this challenge by building on our long-standing research into cancer vaccines and trying to break new ground in treating such hard-to-treat tumors,” she added.
