A cancer patient in Birmingham has become the first person in Europe to sign up for a ground-breaking clinical trial for a new pancreatic cancer vaccine.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, and experts said that the launch of the European arm of the trial means that “hope is on the horizon”.
Pancreatic Cancer UK said that the vaccine's potential “cannot be understated” and that it could become a “vital new weapon” against the disease.
The news comes as Cancer Research UK (CRUK) announced that a new study was launched to pinpoint the moment the immune system recognises a tumour. Identifying this point is hoped to help medics one day stop the spread of disease earlier than previously possible.
The charity has awarded the University of Cambridge a £1.5 million grant over the next six years to investigate how the immune system evolves, targets, and kills cancer cells as tumours develop. It is hoped that finding the trigger point when the body starts to recognise cancerous cells could one day lead to cancer being found earlier—when it is easier to treat—and improvements to treatments that harness the body’s immune system to kill cancer cells.
Study lead Professor Heather Machado, from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Pathology, said: “This research has the potential to give an entirely new perspective on the role of the immune system in cancer progression, findings that we hope to use to improve lifesaving cancer immunotherapies further.
“Most cancers are diagnosed years or decades after early tumour development, which can often be too late.
“Our methods will allow us to go back in the cancer’s timeline to understand the immune response in these early stages of cancer development.
“Beyond improving immunotherapies, we hope this understanding helps us detect cancer earlier, at stages where survival rates are much higher.
“It is fascinating because we are using cutting-edge technology that is only available now, and we are going to be able to discover how the immune system responds to tumours unlike we have ever seen before, and that is potentially life-changing in terms of improving immunotherapies for better health and patient prognosis.”
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