Vaccine’ which could destroy terminal cancer is being tested in the UK

A ‘vaccine’ which could battle many forms of terminal cancer is to be tested in the UK.
The immunotherapy trial will examine whether a vaccine, based on fragments of a key cancer protein, is effective in stimulating the body’s own immune system to destroy unhealthy cells.
‘This is pushing new boundaries for potential cancer treatments,’ said life sciences minister George Freeman.



Scientists, led by Surrey Cancer Research Institute, are recruiting patients who have failed to respond to treatment.
Two patients have already received the vaccine as part of the trial, which is expected to run for up to two years.

Immunotherapy is generating great interest in the cancer research community.

In February, experts in the US announced they had seen “extraordinary” results in early trials involving terminally ill patients with blood cancer.

The UK trial – in Guildford and London – is for people with solid tumours and is recruiting those who have failed on previous types of cancer treatment.
All patients with any solid tumour, irrespective of their type of cancer, are believed to have the potential to benefit from immunotherapy.

Professor Hardev Pandha, who is leading the trial at the Surrey Cancer Research Institute, said: ‘We know that the immune system in patients with advanced cancer is suppressed, so it’s unable to recognise and kill cancer calls.
‘In this trial we are investigating a form of immunotherapy designed to activate the body’s immune system by administration of a vaccine based on fragments of a key cancer protein.