Pafos Press 24 August 2024
Doctors have begun the world's first patient trials of an mRNA lung cancer vaccine that experts say could save thousands of lives.
This vaccine, known as BNT116 and developed by BioNTech, is designed to target non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), the most common type of lung cancer. Its goal is to eliminate cancer cells while preventing them from coming back by training the immune system to recognize these cancer cells and attack them.
The phase 1 clinical trial, the first study of BNT116 in humans, has begun at 34 research institutions in seven countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey.
A total of approximately 130 patients - from first-stage patients, before surgery or radiation, to advanced stage or metastatic cancer - will receive the vaccine alongside immunotherapy.
The vaccine uses messenger RNA (mRNA), like the Covid-19 vaccines, and works by providing the immune system with cancer markers from MRSA to train the body to attack cancer cells that express these markers.
The goal is to boost the immune system's response to cancer while leaving healthy cells intact, unlike chemotherapy.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the first patient in the United Kingdom took the vaccine on Tuesday, marking a critical milestone for the study.
Experts, such as oncology professor Siob Ming Lee of University College London Hospitals, underline to the Guardian that this is the beginning of a "very exciting new era" in cancer research.
British Science Minister Lord Vallance expressed his optimism about the trial and underlined that this vaccine could potentially save thousands of lives, according to the Guardian.
Source: APE/Guardian
