Spain to test first vaccine in five hospitals

Spain will test the first vaccine against lung cancer in five hospitals of the public health network: Madrid, Seville, Barcelona, ​​Valencia and Santiago de Compostela, they will be part of this significant moment in the history of medicine, marking the beginning of a new It was about the fight against cancer.

The first phase 1 clinical trial in humans has recently begun. try the BNT116 vaccineaimed at the most common and deadly type of lung cancer: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This innovative vaccine, developed by BioNTech, uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, similar to the vaccines used against Covid.

lBNT116 works by instructing the immune system. recognize specific markers present on NSCLC cells, training the body to identify and destroy cancer cells that display these markers.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of death worldwide, and the development of new therapeutic strategies is critical to improving patient outcomes. In this context, recent approval for first lung cancer vaccine trial

V Spain represents a significant milestone in cancer medicine. This article reviews the current state of cancer vaccines, details the basic principles of the vaccine to be tested in Spain, and discusses the potential implications of this advance for the treatment of lung cancer.

This tumor causes approximately 1.8 million deaths each year. In most cases, it is diagnosed at a late stage, when treatment options are limited and survival rates are low. Therefore, finding new forms of treatment is crucial. Immunotherapy, which stimulates the body’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. have proven to be one of the most promising areas of cancer research. In this area, cancer vaccines have become a potentially powerful tool.

The following hospitals will participate in this study: Jimenez Diaz Foundation (Madrid), La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital (Valencia), Virgen de la Macarena Hospital (Seville), Vall d’Hebron and Geman Trias i Pujol Hospital in Barcelona and the University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela.

On the other hand, Spain is one of seven countries in the world where this analysis will be carried out, such as the UK, the US, Germany, Poland, Turkey and Hungary. In total, it is being developed in a group of 34 centers and 130 patients will be examined.

Current status of vaccines

Cancer vaccines are designed to stimulate a patient’s immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells. There are two main types of cancer vaccines: preventive and therapeutic. Preventive vaccines

such as human papillomavirus (HPV) for cervical cancer, are given to healthy people to prevent viral infections that can lead to the development of certain types of cancer. Therapeutic vaccineson the other hand, they are administered to patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer in order to stimulate a specific immune response against cancer cells.

To date, The development of therapeutic cancer vaccines faces numerous challengesincluding tumor heterogeneity, the ability of cancer cells to evade the immune system, and the difficulty of identifying specific tumor antigens that are not present on normal cells.

First vaccine in Spain

The recent approval of the first lung cancer vaccine trial in Spain marks a significant advance in the field. The vaccine, called dendritic cell-based immunotherapeutic vaccineis based on the use of the patient’s own dendritic cells, which are a type of antigen-presenting cell. These cells are extracted from the patient, modified in the lab to present tumor-specific antigens, and then reintroduced into the patient’s body. The goal is for these activated dendritic cells to stimulate an immune system response specifically directed against cancer cells.

Dendritic cells are essential for activating the immune response as they are responsible for presenting antigens to T cells, which are responsible for destroying infected or cancerous cells. When modified to recognize specific lung cancer antigens These dendritic cells can direct the immune system to attack and destroy tumor cells.

Clinical trial design

The clinical trial approved in Spain will focus on assessing the safety and efficacy of this vaccine in patients with advanced lung cancer, for whom traditional treatment options are limited or ineffective. The study is expected to provide valuable data on the immune response induced by the vaccine and its impact on disease progression.

Consequences of vaccine development

The launch of this clinical trial in Spain has important implications not only for lung cancer patients but also for the broader field of cancer immunotherapy. If the vaccine proves effective, could pave the way for the development of personalized therapies against other types of cancer. Additionally, this approach may improve patients’ quality of life by offering a less invasive treatment option with fewer side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy and radiation therapy.