OXFORD, UK – Scientists from the University of Oxford, the Francis Crick Institute and University College London have used technology similar to the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to create the “LungVax,” a vaccine which activates the immune system to kill cancer cells and stop lung cancer.
The team has been granted up to $2 million in funding by charities, Cancer Research UK and the CRIS Cancer Foundation, to manufacture 3,000 doses of the vaccine.
It works by using a strand of DNA which trains the immune system to recognise “red flag” proteins in lung cancer cells – known as neoantigens – and kill them.
These neoantigens appear on the surface of the cell because of cancer-causing mutations within the cell’s DNA.
According to data from Cancer Research UK, there are about 48,500 cases of lung cancer every year in the UK, 72% of which are caused by smoking.
However, the LungVax provides a “really important step forward” into a future where cancer is more preventable, Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of the charity, said.
“The science that successfully steered the world out of the pandemic could soon be guiding us toward a future where people can live longer, better lives free from the fear of cancer,” she said.
“We’re in a golden age of research and this is one of many projects which we hope will transform lung cancer survival.”
If the vaccine can successfully show in a lab setting that it triggers an immune response, it will move into a clinical trial. Positive results from this could then lead to bigger trials for people at high risk of the disease.
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