Man cured of bowel cancer by mRNA vaccine in UK using mRNA technology

The first patient in England has been successfully treated with a personalised cancer vaccine using mRNA technology, the same as the COVID-19 vaccine.

Here's What We Know

Elliot Pfebw, 55, became the first person to receive the vaccine after a tumour was removed from his colon. The injection aims to stimulate the immune system so that it can recognise and attack cancer cells.

Cancer mRNA vaccines look for specific mutations in a patient's tumour to create a customised treatment. This helps to accelerate research that was conceived several years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated its development.

NHS England's Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad programme is an initiative aimed at accelerating the introduction of personalised cancer vaccines in the UK. The programme is already recruiting patients to participate in trials to evaluate the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines for various types of cancer, including pancreatic and lung cancer.

The partnership with BioNTech allows the UK to not only accelerate the development of these vaccines, but also to expand the scope of clinical trials with the aim of providing personalised treatments for 10,000 people by 2030. A research centre will be established in Cambridge where more than 70 scientists will work to further develop these treatments.

Source: Sky News