First patient to receive personalized colon cancer vaccine in England

Elliott, a higher education teacher, had no symptoms of cancer and was diagnosed during a routine check-up with his GP. He was then sent to Manor Hospital in Walsall, where he underwent surgery to remove the tumor and 30 centimeters of his colon. He was then sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital from Birmingham to begin chemotherapy and take part in vaccine clinical trials.

“Participation in this process coincides with my profession as a teacher and community oriented person. I want to positively impact other people’s lives and help them reach their potential. If this trial is successful, it could give hope to thousands, if not millions, of people from having to experience what I went through. I hope this helps others.”– Febwe commented.

The clinical trial the professor is taking part in is one of many that will be carried out in NHS hospitals across the country to treat different types of cancer. Thousands of patients are expected to benefit from NHS England’s new cancer vaccine launch pad, which will allow those wishing to take part in clinical trials to be quickly referred to one of their nearest participating hospitals.

Patients who agree to participate and meet the clinical trial eligibility criteria will be referred to their nearest participating NHS site, making it easier for patients in hospitals across the country to take part in this ground-breaking development.

The experimental cancer vaccines being evaluated in the colorectal cancer study are based on mRNA, the same technology used for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. These vaccines are created by analyzing each patient’s tumor to identify mutations specific to their cancer.

Using this information, doctors create a personalized experimental cancer vaccine designed to induce an immune response that can prevent cancer from returning after surgery to remove the primary tumor by stimulating the patient’s immune system to recognize and potentially destroy any remaining cancer cells.

Experimental cancer vaccines jointly developed by the companies biopharmaceuticals BioNTech and Genentechmember of the Roche group, are still in the trial stage and have not been approved by regulatory authorities.

The NHS is in a unique position

Thirty hospitals in England have already signed up to a pioneering cancer vaccine launch site, one of the largest projects of its kind in the world. The scheme aims to expand and work with a wide range of partners in the pharmaceutical industry, including patients with many types of cancer.

“Watching Elliot get his first treatment on the cancer vaccine launch pad. This is a historic moment for patients and for the health service as we strive to develop better and more effective ways to stop this disease,” said Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS, adding that “with advances in care and treatment, cancer survival is at stake.” The rate is at an all-time high in this country, but these vaccine trials could one day give us the opportunity to vaccinate people against their own cancer to help save more lives.”

He said: “The NHS is uniquely positioned to deliver this type of world-class research on a large scale, and as more of this research is carried out in hospitals across the country, our national Benchmarking program will ensure that both “as many eligible patients as possible” be able to access them as much as possible.”

Teacher Peter JohnsonThe National Clinical Director for Cancer of the NHS, for his part, explained that “we know that even after successful surgery cancer can return because some cancer cells remain in the body, but using a vaccine to attack these remaining cells could be a way to this did not happen” and therefore, “access to clinical trials can provide another option for patients and their families, and I am pleased that through our national platform we are expanding opportunities for many more people to participate in these trials.” with thousands of patients that could be recruited over the next year”

Principal investigator of the study at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, oncologist Victoria Kunene, commented that “experimental cancer vaccines are based on mRNA and are created by analyzing a patient’s tumor to identify mutations specific to their cancer. Using this information, we can create a personalized experimental cancer vaccine, but It is too early to say whether they will be successful.although we are extremely optimistic.

“Given 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 are continuing to recruit eligible patients for the study to establish this further “carefully.” , he admitted.