A lung cancer patient in the UK has become one of the first to take part in a groundbreaking trial of the world's first lung cancer vaccine.
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A British patient is among the first Europeans to take part in a groundbreaking international trial of a lung cancer vaccine.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with approximately 1.8 million people dying from lung cancer in 2020.
Of these, around 230,700 – nearly a quarter of a million – live in the EU alone, accounting for nearly one in five cancer deaths in the region.
The vaccine, developed by BioNTech and called BNT116, uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, like some COVID-19 vaccines, to help the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells.
This world-first vaccine is designed to target non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for 85% of all lung cancer cases.
The treatment works by presenting a patient's immune system with information about common tumor markers associated with NSCLC.
This specific targeting aims to destroy cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy cells, in contrast to the effects of chemotherapy.
“The strength of the approach we are using is that the treatment is highly targeted to the cancer cells. This way we hope to prove in time that the treatment is effective in lung cancer without affecting other tissues,” Dr. Sara Benafif, who led the study, said in a statement.
The groundbreaking study will involve approximately 130 patients with non-small cell lung cancer at various stages, from early stages before surgery or radiotherapy to advanced stages, and will be conducted at 34 research centers in seven countries.
The trial is being conducted in the UK, as well as four other European countries – Germany, Spain, Poland and Hungary – as well as the US and Turkey.
“We hope this study will provide an opportunity to further improve outcomes for patients with NSCLC, whether they have early or advanced stages,” said Professor Sioh Ming Lee, who led the UK study.
“Try new things”
Janusz Ratz, a 67-year-old scientist from London, is the first person in the UK to receive the new experimental vaccine.
Ratu was diagnosed with lung cancer in May and began chemotherapy and radiation therapy soon after.
In a recent statement, he said he hoped the vaccine would provide protection against cancer cells, adding, “I also thought that by taking part in this study I could help others in the future and contribute to making this treatment more widely available.”
Ratz, who specializes in artificial intelligence (AI), said his scientific background encouraged him to take part in the trial.
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“As a scientist myself, I know that science can only advance when people agree to take part in such programs. I work in the field of artificial intelligence and am open to trying new things. My family also looked into the trial and supported my participation,” he said.
Carrie Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England, said the cancer vaccine trials could be “revolutionary” in that they could vaccinate individuals against their own cancer and prevent the disease coming back.
“A cancer diagnosis can be very worrying, but access to groundbreaking clinical trials and other innovative technologies to diagnose and treat cancer earlier gives us hope,” Palmer said.
“We expect thousands more patients to participate in clinical trials over the next few years.”
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