A new off-the-shelf peptide vaccine has proven effective against pancreatic and colorectal cancer, reducing the chances of recurrence in early trials, according to a new study.
Among all the types of cancers, Pancreatic cancer is of particular concern due to a poor survival rate of 13 percent among the patients.
Another factor that is worth-concerning is the high recurrence chances as up to 80 percent of pancreatic cancers may come back.
According to the research, a widely-used and non-personalized vaccine that is in the early stages of clinical trials could prevent pancreatic and colorectal cancer from returning.
The vaccines, made up of peptides, only recognize and target KRAS gene mutations that are responsible for 90 percent of pancreatic cancers and 40 percent of colorectal cancers.
According to Dr. Zev Wainberg who co-led the Phase 1 clinical, “the critical step is engaging an immune response.”
In the Phase 1 trial published in Nature Medicine, Wainberg and a team of doctors administered the non-mRNA jabs called ELI-002 2P to the 20 patients with pancreatic cancers and 5 patients grappling with colorectal cancer.
According to the findings, unlike pancreatic cancer patients, colorectal patients were at the risk of cancer recurrence after administering the jabs.
“After a long-term follow-up of this study, we were able to demonstrate that the group of patients who mounted an immune response have a greater likelihood of not having their cancer return and living longer compared to historical expectation of what that patients would do,” Prof Wainberg explained.
The personalized mRNA vaccines have proved revolutionary in the field of oncology. However, if successful, these non-mRNA vaccines could be a major breakthrough in different types of cancer prevention.
Siow Ming Lee, a professor of medical oncology at University College London said, “With promising early results and potentially fewer side-effects than current oral inhibitors, this off-the-shelf cancer vaccine could expand treatment options for KRAS-induced cancers and warrants further testing in larger trials, including exploring its potential use in lung cancer driven by KRAS mutations.”