‘Crucial moment’ as trials of lung cancer vaccine set to target those most at risk

It could prevent 90% of cases, say experts

WORK is under way on a ‘groundbreaking’ lung cancer vaccine after research suggested that it will prevent up to 90% of cases.

The jab – which will be given to those at highest risk of developing the disease – will train the immune system to spot and attack early signs of disease.

Experts described it as a ‘crucial moment’ in the fight against the devastating illness. Almost 2,600 people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year in Ireland.

Known as ‘LungVax’, the vaccine is being created by the University of Oxford, the Francis Crick Institute and University College London.

Lung cancer cells look different from normal cells due to having ‘red flag’ proteins called neoantigens. These appear on the surface of the cell because of cancer-causing mutations within the cell’s DNA.

The LungVax vaccine will carry a strand of DNA which trains the immune system to recognise these neoantigens on abnormal lung cells.

It will then activate the immune system to kill these cells and stop lung cancer.

Professor Tim Elliot, lead researcher at the University of Oxford, said: ‘Cancer is a disease of our own bodies and it’s hard for the immune system to distinguish between what’s normal and what’s cancer.

‘Getting the immune system to recognise and attack cancer is one of the biggest challenges in cancer research today.

‘This research could deliver an offthe-shelf vaccine based on Oxford’s vaccine technology, which proved itself in the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘If we can replicate the kind of success seen in trials during the pandemic, we could save the lives of tens of thousands of people every year in the UK alone.’

Researchers have been granted up to £1.7million (€2million) from Cancer Research UK and the CRIS Cancer Foundation.

The team will receive funding for the study over the next two years to support research and initial manufacturing of 3,000 doses of the vaccine. If successful, the vaccine will move straight into a clinical trials, involving those at the biggest risk of disease, such as current and former smokers who currently qualify for targeted lung health checks in some parts of Europe. Fewer than 10% of people with lung cancer survive their disease for ten years or more.

Professor Mariam Jamal-Hanjani of University College London and the Francis Crick Institute, said: ‘We think the vaccine could cover around 90% of all lung cancers, based on our computer models and previous research, and this funding will allow us to take the vital first steps towards trials in patients.

‘LungVax will not replace stopping smoking as the best way to reduce your risk of lung cancer. But it could offer a viable route to preventing

‘One of the biggest challenges’ ‘Allowing us to take first steps’

some of the earliest-stage cancers from emerging in the first place.’

Lola Manterola, president of the CRIS Cancer Foundation, said: ‘We are at a crucial moment in the history of cancer research and treatment.

‘For the first time, technology and knowledge of the immune system are allowing us to take the first steps towards preventing cancer.

‘This groundbreaking study represents a firm step in that direction, and we at CRIS consider it essential to support it.’