A CLINICAL trial using personalised messenger mRNA vaccines to treat pancreatic cancer has had some promising results.
Less than 13% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer live for more than five years.
The very small clinical trial suggests that mRNA vaccines could prevent pancreatic cancer from recurring with most of the patients who responded still being alive six years later.
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Experts though have warned that further extensive research is needed.
There is no routine screening for pancreatic cancer, such as colonoscopy or mammogram, and symptoms normally are not observed until the disease is advanced.
Once detected, there are few options for treatment.
“Traditional immunotherapies can be very effective, but they only work in about 20% of all cancers, leaving the majority of cancers without immune-based treatments,” according to New York clinical trial leader, Dr. Vinod Balachandran.
The vaccines work as a type of so-called immunotherapy, harnessing a person’s immune system to fight cancer cells.
The aim is not to eliminate existing tumors, but instead to stamp out lingering, undetected cancer cells, and later any new cells that form before they can cause a recurrence.
Surgeries are still needed to remove tumors after which, the mRNA vaccines are personalised for each individual using genetic material taken from their unique tumor cells.
In the clinical trial, after getting the vaccine, the patients also received chemotherapy, which is standard post-op treatment for operable pancreatic cancer.
In its most recent trial phase, patients who received the drug lived a median of 13.2 months, compared with 6.7 months for those who did not.
For those with pancreatic cancer, that is a major increase.
University of Texas oncologist, Matthew Katz said: “In the patient population that was being evaluated, six months is huge. It is a definite win.”
Until new drugs are approved, chemotherapy by itself remains the standard of care for pancreatic cancer.
But unlike targeted therapies, chemotherapy attacks both cancerous and healthy cells, often leading to more severe side effects.
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