Understanding How Lupus and Cancer Interact

mrna and cancer treatment :: Article Creator

Moderna's 'Off-the-Shelf' Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise In Early Human Trial Data

The future of cancer treatment is continuing to look bright. Over the weekend, researchers in the UK announced encouraging results from an early trial testing an mRNA vaccine against advanced solid cancers. The vaccine, developed by Moderna, is designed to help people's immune system better recognize and kill cancerous cells.

On Saturday, researchers at King's College London and elsewhere presented the data at the annual conference of the European Society of Medical Oncology. The Phase I/II trial is the first to test the vaccine candidate—currently codenamed mRNA-4359—in people. The vaccine is supposed to sensitize the immune system to two specific proteins commonly featured on the cells of certain tumors as well as other cells that suppress the immune system, PD-L1 and IDO1. The hope is that a person's retrained immunity can then more easily target cancers directly.

An Experimental Cancer Vaccine Turned Tumor Cells Into Traitors

While vaccines are generally preventative, helping the body recognize threats before they arrive, cancer vaccines, including mRNA-4359, are typically therapeutic, used to help treat people's existing cancer or prevent a recurrence. Many cancer vaccines are personalized to someone's specific type of cancer, but Moderna expects that mRNA-4359 can be an "off-the-shelf" vaccine, one that can be used against a wide range of advanced solid tumor cancers.

The trial involves 19 patients with advanced lung cancer, melanoma, and other solid tumors. Phase I trials are primarily intended to test a drug or vaccine's safety, but this trial is also meant to find the treatment's optimal dosing. So people have been given anywhere from one to nine different doses of the vaccine. In their presentation, the researchers provided data on 16 patients who were able to have their responses to the vaccine measured.

According to the researchers, eight of these patients (50%) showed no signs of their tumors growing, as well as a lack of new tumors forming. Tests additionally found that the vaccine did seem to generate a noticeable increase in immune cells that could recognize PD-L1 and IDO1. The vaccine also appeared to be safe and well-tolerated, with common adverse events being fatigue, injection site pain, and fever.

"We are encouraged by the Phase 1 results of mRNA-4359, which demonstrate its potential to elicit strong antigen-specific T-cell responses while maintaining a manageable safety profile," said Kyle Holen, Moderna's Senior Vice President and Head of Development, Therapeutics and Oncology, in a statement provided by King's College London.

An Experimental Breast Cancer Vaccine Might Already Be Saving Lives

The researchers caution their results are, of course, preliminary, and that much more data will be needed to know whether mRNA-4359 can work as hoped. The trial is continuing to recruit more patients with advanced cancers across the U.S., UK, Spain, and Australia. But there are dozens of other cancer vaccines in development, some of which are very close to the finish line. Moderna is currently testing another of their candidates, designed to target advanced melanomas specifically, in a large-scale Phase III trial, for instance. So with any luck, the first wave of these cancer vaccines will reach the public in a matter of years.

Experimental MRNA Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise In Patients With Advanced Cancers

Thank you. Listen to this article using the player above. ✖

Want to listen to this article for FREE?

Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.

The investigational mRNA cancer immunotherapy is targeted for patients with lung cancer, melanoma and other solid tumours. Nineteen patients with advanced stage cancers received between one and nine doses of the immunotherapy treatment. Scientists have found the immunotherapy created an immune response against cancer and was well tolerated, with adverse events including fatigue, injection site pain and fever.

Results from the Phase I trial, also the first-in-human study of the therapy, are being presented on Saturday, 14th September at the European Society of Medical Oncology conference in Barcelona by the UK Chief Investigator of the trial from the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The trial is sponsored by Moderna.

The mRNA immunotherapy is just one of many cancer vaccines entering clinical trials around the world. The therapy works by presenting common markers of tumours to patients' immune systems, training them to recognise and fight cancer cells that express them and potentially eliminate cells that could supress the immune system.

Subscribe to Technology Networks' daily newsletter, delivering breaking science news straight to your inbox every day.

Subscribe for FREE The Phase I trial was designed to test the safety and tolerability of the immunotherapy, and secondary and tertiary objectives were to assess the radiographic and immunological responses.

Eight out of sixteen patients who could have their responses evaluated were able to demonstrate their tumour size did not grow and no new tumours appeared.

Data also showed the mRNA immunotherapy could activate the immune system in many patients, generating immune cells in the blood that could recognise the two proteins of interest (PD-L1 and IDO1). Researchers were able to show in some patients that the immunotherapy can increase levels of important immune cells that can kill cancer cells as well as reduced levels of other immune cells that can prevent the immune system from fighting cancer.

The results should be treated with caution, say the study authors, as the sample size was small and the primary objective of the study was to test for safety and determine the optimal dose of the immunotherapy. However, these promising early results support further research into mRNA-4359.

The trial continues to recruit patients with melanoma and lung cancer in combination with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab to provide more information on the safety and efficacy of the therapy.

Dr Debashis Sarker, who is also a consultant in medical oncology at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We have shown that the therapy is well tolerated without serious side effects and can stimulate the body's immune system in a way that could help to treat cancer more effectively. However, as this study has only involved a small number of patients to date, it's too early to say how effective this could be for people with advanced stage cancer.

"The trial continues to recruit patients with melanoma and lung cancers and is a huge international effort across the UK, USA, Spain and Australia."

Kyle Holen, M.D., Moderna's Senior Vice President and Head of Development, Therapeutics and Oncology, said: "We are encouraged by the Phase 1 results of mRNA-4359, which demonstrate its potential to elicit strong antigen-specific T-cell responses while maintaining a manageable safety profile.

"This novel approach could be a key component in shifting the tumour microenvironment toward a more immune-permissive state, offering potential hope for patients with advanced solid tumours."

Professor Tariq Enver, Director of the Cancer Research UK City of London Centre, said: "I'd like to congratulate our faculty member Debashis Sarker and his colleagues on taking us a step closer to personalised cancer vaccines. Through his role supporting training at our Centre, Debashis continues to inspire the next generation of clinician scientists to drive life-saving breakthroughs in biological cancer therapies."

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.

Experimental MRNA Cancer Vaccine Shows Potential For Advanced Stage Cancer Patients In Phase 1 Trial

Interim data from the Phase I dose escalation part of the mRNA cancer immunotherapy (mRNA-4359), show promise in patients with advanced solid cancers.

Results from the Phase I trial, also the first-in-human study of the therapy, are being presented on Saturday, 14th September at the European Society of Medical Oncology conference in Barcelona by the UK Chief Investigator of the trial from King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The trial is sponsored by Moderna.

The Phase I trial was designed to test the safety and tolerability of the immunotherapy, and secondary and tertiary objectives were to assess the radiographic and immunological responses.

Eight out of sixteen patients who could have their responses evaluated were able to demonstrate their tumour size did not grow and no new tumours appeared.

The trial continues to recruit patients with melanoma and lung cancer in combination with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab to provide more information on the safety and efficacy of the therapy.

The UK's Chief Investigator of the trial Dr Debashis Sarker, a Clinical Reader in Experimental Oncology at King's College London and a consultant in medical oncology at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This study evaluating an mRNA cancer immunotherapy is an important first step in hopefully developing a new treatment for patients with advanced cancers.

"We have shown that the therapy is well tolerated without serious side effects and can stimulate the body's immune system in a way that could help to treat cancer more effectively. However, as this study has only involved a small number of patients to date, it's too early to say how effective this could be for people with advanced stage cancer.

"The trial continues to recruit patients with melanoma and lung cancers and is a huge international effort across the UK, USA, Spain and Australia."

"This novel approach could be a key component in shifting the tumour microenvironment toward a more immune-permissive state, offering potential hope for patients with advanced solid tumours."

Search This Blog

Prostate Cancer