New vaccine shows promise for treating one of the deadliest forms of cancer

• Researchers say the results of a phase 1 trial of an mRNA vaccine aimed at preventing pancreatic cancer show promise. In the trial, the vaccine prevented the cancer from coming back in patients who had already received treatment for up to three years.
• Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease because symptoms don’t usually appear until it’s in its later stages.
• Researchers are now looking to see how effective the vaccine is when used to treat a larger group of pancreatic cancer patients.

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A new experimental vaccine to treat pancreatic cancer is showing promise in a phase 1 clinical trial. In a study published on Wednesday, Feb. 19, researchers with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center found the mRNA vaccine reduces the risk of pancreatic cancer returning after surgery.

Why do we need a pancreatic cancer vaccine?

Pancreatic cancer is one of the less common but most deadly forms of the disease. Only about 13% of people diagnosed with it live for more than five years after diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society. That’s because 90% of the time the cases are already advanced by the time they’re diagnosed.

Pancreatic cancer often goes unnoticed until symptoms start to appear in its later stages and unlike other cancers, there’s no routine screening for it. On top of that, once it’s detected, there aren’t many effective treatments.

How would the vaccine help?

Researchers have not yet tested the vaccine as a preventative measure against pancreatic cancer. However, it could be one day.

Scientists say mRNA vaccines work by effectively teaching a person’s immune system to detect and fight cancer cells.

This new study found that the vaccine had activated tumor-specific immune cells that kept working in the body for up to nearly four years after treatment in some patients.

Researchers also found patients who had a vaccine-induced immune response had a lower risk of the cancer coming back after three years, compared with patients whose immune systems did not respond to the vaccine.

What’s next for the vaccine?

The phase 1 trial included 16 people. Researchers said the next step is figuring out if the immune response triggered by the vaccine extends patients’ lives and if so, by how much. That trial is already underway and will test the vaccine’s efficacy on a larger group of more than 250 patients.