a man with colon cancer has been the first patient in England treated with a personalized vaccine against the disease within the public health system (NHS, in English), as reported this Friday by the health system of the United Kingdom.
Health authorities indicated that thousands more people are expected to be recruited to take part in vaccine trials for various forms of cancer in the coming years, according to the NHS.
This treatment has been qualified by the authorities of “Historic moment” for patients and for the NHS.
According to information released today, the first patient to receive the personalized vaccine against colon cancer has been identified as Elliot Pfebve, a 55-year-old teacher, who was diagnosed with the disease after a routine medical check-up.
After having a 30 centimeter tumor removed from his large intestine, he was referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, to receive chemotherapy and participate in the clinical trial.
“Participating in this trial aligns with my profession as a teacher and as a community-centered person. “I want to have a positive impact on other people’s lives and help them realize their potential.”he added in statements released by health.
“Through the potential of this trial, if successful, it can help thousands, if not millions, of people, so that they can have hope and not experience everything that I have gone through.”he stressed.
The vaccine was created using mRNA (messenger RNA) technology and is being jointly developed by biopharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Genentech.
According to experts, the vaccine works by looking for specific mutations in a patient’s tumor, and doctors use the information to create a personalized treatment.
The injection is designed to stimulate the patient’s immune system after surgery to remove tumors so that it can recognize and attack remaining cancer cells.
Victoria Kunene, a consultant clinical oncologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and principal investigator of the trial, said: “Investigational cancer vaccines are based on mRNA and are created by analyzing a patient’s tumor to identify mutations specific to their own cancer.”
“Using this information we can create an individualized vaccine against cancer, but it is still premature to say if it will be successful, although we have high hopes,” he pointed out.
“Based on the limited data we currently have on the body’s response to the vaccine, this could prove to be a significant and positive development for patients, but more data is still needed and we continue to recruit suitable patients for the trial,” he added.
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Source: Gestion
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