Pancreatic cancer treatment due to corona

Pancreatic cancer treatment due to corona

Scientists have made a breakthrough in the development of an anti-cancer vaccine after they used the same technology used in the development of the Corona virus vaccine, which is manufactured by Piontech-Pfizer Company. The vaccine, designed specifically for each patient, can stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells.

The experts behind the development of the Pfizer vaccine have collaborated with doctors in New York City to develop a vaccine for pancreatic cancer patients, according to the British newspaper, “The Telegraph”.

The results of the phase I clinical trial, the first of its kind, were announced this weekend at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.

The scientists hope that the findings herald a new era of treatment for other difficult-to-treat cancers, as pancreatic cancer is often known as the "poster child" of such deadly tumors.

The mechanism of action of the vaccine

And about the details of the experiment, underwent twenty patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which represents about 90% of all cases of pancreatic cancer, for the experiment.

These patients underwent surgery to remove the cancer, and after 72 hours their tumor samples were shipped to BioNTech in Germany for treatment and individual vaccine, which is administered intravenously to the patient.

The patients also received immunotherapy to help boost their response.

In the footsteps of the Corona vaccine

The new vaccines use mRNA, a genetic code from the tumor, to teach the body's cells to make a protein that stimulates the immune response, the same technology used in the Corona vaccines produced by the company Pfizer-BioNTech.

The body then learns that the cancer cells are actually foreign and sends T cells to search for them and kill them if they come back.

promising results

Sixteen patients received the first of nine doses of the vaccine nine weeks after surgery, and half of these produced a significant immune response.

Also, all eight patients were cancer-free at 18 months, suggesting that T cells activated by the vaccine stop cancer recurring.

However, eight patients did not respond to the vaccine, while six saw their cancer recur after just over a year, and researchers are still investigating why half of the group did not respond.

Prof Ozlem Turise, co-founder and medical director of BioNTech, said only five per cent of patients with pancreatic cancer responded to treatment.

"We are committed to meeting this challenge by building on our long-standing research into cancer vaccines and trying to break new ground in treating such hard-to-treat tumors," she added.