Vaccination against cancer is just around the corner? mRNA technology has been recognized by the general public with the new coronary pneumonia vaccine. BioNTech, a German biotechnology company that developed the Fubitai vaccine in conjunction with the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, has another study with high hopes. BioNTech is developing a pancreatic cancer vaccine with mRNA technology. Preliminary experiments have shown that it can prevent pancreatic cancer patients from recurring after surgery, hoping to become a new cancer therapy in time.
The British “Times” said that mRNA technology will control the body’s immune system to detect mutant proteins on the surface of specific cancer cells, thereby triggering an immune response. The above-mentioned anti-cancer mRNA vaccine must be tailored according to the patient’s condition. After injection, the immune system is highly protected against cancer cells that still exist in the blood after surgery, and T cells are used to kill them.
BioNTech earlier conducted a small-scale trial of its pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine, involving 16 pancreatic cancer patients who had undergone surgery. After 8 doses of the vaccine per person, the results showed a 50% effect. During the 18-month observation period, 8 of them had no pancreatic cancer recurrence, 8 of them did not respond to the vaccine, their T cells were not activated, and 6 of them had cancer recurrence or death.
Vinod Balachandran, an expert at MSK Cancer Center in New York, USA, who led the research, said, “It is very exciting to see a tailor-made vaccine that can turn the immune system against pancreatic cancer and other cancers.” “Pancreatic cancer is cancerous. Typically, it is very difficult to treat with traditional chemotherapy or immunotherapy.” It is expected that mRNA cancer vaccines will be tested more widely.
Expert: Immune system struggles to distinguish cancer cell proteins
Balachandran revealed that he had discussed the use of mRNA for cancer treatment with the BioNTech team long before the global new crown pneumonia epidemic, and the epidemic revealed that mRNA vaccines can indeed strengthen the body’s immune response to fight pathogens. He pointed out that the question that emerged later was, “Can similar technologies be used to fight cancer?” He explained: “Cancer starts from its own cells. The proteins of pathogens such as viruses are much harder.” The results of this study reflect that they are “on the right track”. BioNTech co-founder Ozlem Türeci pointed out that only 5% of pancreatic cancer patients respond to existing treatments, and his team is trying to bring a medical breakthrough with an anti-cancer vaccine. Chris Macdonald, research director of Pancreatic Cancer UK, an organization that focuses on pancreatic cancer in the United Kingdom, said that surgery is currently the most effective treatment for pancreatic cancer, but about 75% of patients will recur, and they have high hopes for the vaccine.
Originally published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/international/biontech develops new hope for cancer treatment-mrna vaccine prevents pancreatic cancer recurrence/323334