A 67-year-old patient at the University College London Hospital is the first to receive the first-ever lung cancer vaccine.
German biotech firm BioNTech developed this mRNA-based inoculation called BNT116. The vaccine works by activating the immune system so that it recognizes and combats cancer cells.
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The researchers have started the initial trial to adjust the safety of BNT116 and determine its potential side effects.
How does the lung cancer vaccine work?
The official UCLH website shares more details regarding the lung cancer vaccine. BNT116 uses a messenger RNA (mRNA) to present non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to the patient’s immune system.
Consequently, the immune system can recognize and fight lung cancer cells. The vaccine also enhances immune responses to reduce the risk of toxicity, making it safer than chemotherapy.
Sixty-seven-year-old Londoner Janusz Racz is one of the 130 who will receive the vaccine in the initial trial. It will span 34 research sites in seven countries, with six in the United Kingdom.
Interesting Engineering says these nations include the US, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Spain, and Turkey. Also, patients will receive six consecutive injections of the drug, five minutes after the previous one.
“Dr. Sarah [Benafif] explained how the vaccine should work and how it was different from the treatment I had recently completed,” Racz stated.
“I thought it over and decided to take part because I hoped it would provide a defense against cancer cells,” the patient added.
UCLH consultant medical oncologist and head of the study Dr. Sarah Benafif explained, “The strength of the approach we are taking is that the treatment is aimed at being highly targeted towards cancer cells.”
“In this way, we hope that in time, we are able to show that the treatment is effective against lung cancer whilst leaving other tissues untouched.”
NHS England national cancer director Dame Cally Palmer said: “The NHS has a leading role globally in trialing cancer vaccines and if we are successful, they could be revolutionary in vaccinating people against their own cancers to prevent the cancer recurring after their initial treatment.”