The mRNA revolution continues: Just a few years after mRNA vaccines proved effective against COVID-19, scientists are now turning their attention to lung cancer.
The mRNA vaccine, called BTN116, developed by German biotechnology company BioNTech, is the first of its kind and is in phase 1 clinical trials in seven countries, including the US and UK. The vaccine is intended to treat the most common form of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
“Lung cancer is the biggest cause of death in the world and this work using mRNA technology is just the first generation,” said Siu Ming Lee, an oncologist at the UCHL Clinical Research Institute, who is leading the UK trial.
“But this is a start and we hope that it will lead to improved outcomes for lung cancer patients not only in the UK but also around the world, including Canada, the US and China,” he told Global News.
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The vaccine works by specifically targeting cancer cells and is designed to complement other lung cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy, Li said.
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Phase 1 clinical trials have begun at 34 research sites in seven countries: the UK, US, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey. In the US, three sites are currently recruiting patients, accepting people with both early and late stages of the disease.
“I'm very excited. When the mRNA COVID vaccines were announced less than four years ago, people were skeptical and there was uncertainty, but they definitely work,” Lee said. “I think people need to remember that the COVID-19 vaccines worked for cancer patients, with lower mortality rates than the general population.”
In Canada, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death. According to the Canadian Lung Cancer Society, more than 20,000 Canadians are expected to die from lung cancer this year — more than breast, prostate and colorectal cancer combined.
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The disease is also the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, killing 1.8 million people in 2020, making it the highest killer for both men and women.
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According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), treatments include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy, but lung cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, meaning there are fewer treatment options.
But by training the immune system to target and fight lung cancer cells, mRNA technology could be the next big advance in cancer treatment, Lee said.
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Lee explained that development of the lung cancer vaccine began four years ago following the successful development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines by BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna.
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He said that not only have the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines proven to be safe and effective in preventing against the virus, but the scientific community has also observed a reduction in mortality rates among cancer patients.
Although mRNA technology has been in development for decades, it has come into the spotlight with the success of the COVID-19 vaccines and proven effective in fighting the virus.
The technology works by using messenger RNA to send instructions to the body to make proteins that prime the immune system to target specific viruses, and the same principle can be used to target the immune system against tumors.
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An injection of BioNTech's mRNA cancer immunotherapy (known as BNT116) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is administered at the University College London Hospital Clinical Research Facility in central London as part of the UK's first lung cancer immunotherapy clinical trial. Aaron Chong/PA Images via Getty Images
“The COVID vaccine targets the spike protein of the virus,” Lee said.
“So what we're doing is using a very simple technique to target a cancer protein. We've identified a protein that's common to lung cancer patients, and there are many proteins that are also present in melanoma and other cancers. But this is lung cancer patients. We're generating an mRNA vaccine against this protein, which will attack the lung cancer.”
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But he stressed that this cannot be achieved alone.
mRNA vaccines may need to be used in combination with other treatments, such as chemotherapy, depending on the severity of the cancer.
Janusz Ratz, a 67-year-old lung cancer patient from the UK, was the first person to receive the vaccine as part of a clinical trial that began on Tuesday.
“After much consideration, I decided to participate because I hoped it would provide some protection against cancer cells, but I also thought that taking part in this study could help others in the future and make this treatment more widely available,” he said in a media release on Friday.
UCLH oncologists Siu Ming Lee and Dr Sara Benafif talk to patient Janusz Lacz before receiving an injection of BioNTech's mRNA cancer immunotherapy. Aaron Chong / PA Images via Getty Images
Unlike COVID-19 vaccines, which require one or two doses, lung cancer treatments require multiple doses.
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Lee said Latu has received six consecutive vaccinations over the course of 30 minutes, five minutes apart. He will be vaccinated every week for six consecutive weeks, then every three weeks for 54 weeks.
The goal is to eradicate the cancer and prevent it from recurring. However, Li stressed that the vaccine is still in its early stages, as it is currently in the first phase of clinical trials. If safety tests are successful, Li expects the vaccine to enter the second phase in 2025.
“There's a long way to go, but we're hopeful that we'll be able to start work on this vaccine just as we started work on the COVID vaccine,” he said.
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