For the first time, a patient has received an mRNA vaccine against lung cancer. And this is within a framework Medical examination In Great Britain. Biontech’s vaccine is now being tested in Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the United States. About 130 patients from early stages of the disease to advanced stages or recurrent cancer are expected to participate in this first phase of the trial. SRF Science Editor Nina-Lou Frey knows the background.
Nina-Lou Frey
SRF Scientific Editor
Why is the mRNA vaccine coming now?
The pandemic has given a huge boost to mRNA technology. Scientists have been using this technology for a long time, but only because of the pandemic more money is flowing into this area. I mean: there’s a lot going on right now. Research is currently underway on mRNA vaccines for cancer types such as breast, prostate, colon and pancreatic cancer.
A lung cancer vaccine is currently being tested. (thumbnail)
KEYSTONE/BIONTECH SE/HANDOUT
Why Lung Cancer?
Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers worldwide: about 1.8 million people die from it every year. Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in the country.
Even after lung cancer patients have surgery and radiation, the cancer can come back. This is where Biotech’s new mRNA vaccine makes progress. But: A clinical trial of a new mRNA vaccine called “BNT116” is still in its early stages. Results will not be available until 2027. Further studies with more participants are then needed. It takes years for patients to continue receiving this treatment.
How do mRNA vaccines work?
First we know the vaccinations to keep you from getting sick. On the other hand, mRNA vaccines are for people who already have cancer. They are therapeutic vaccines. It trains the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
Cancer is a collective term; Each type has its own mutations. Not only are cancer types different from each other, but each patient’s cancer is different. If two people have the same form of lung cancer, the vaccine may work for one but not the other.
How does the vaccine help the immune system of the infected?
In all of us, the immune system is constantly on the lookout for foreign substances, pathogens or cancer cells in the body. And cancer cells are basically being created all the time. The immune system always recognizes and destroys them. But sometimes cancer cells are able to hide themselves from the immune system. Or the immune system becomes exhausted. A vaccine is an attempt to reactivate the immune system so that it can fight cancer cells again.
The specialty of the new mRNA vaccines is that a vaccine is prepared for each patient. But even if the vaccine is tailored to the characteristics of individual tumor cells, an mRNA vaccine may not work as intended.
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