Patients undergoing bowel cancer treatment at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be invited to try out personalised ‘vaccines’ following the launch of a ground-breaking NHS 'matchmaking' service.
The landmark Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad aims to recruit thousands of patients across England into various trials of a new type of immunotherapy treatment, known colloquially as cancer vaccines.
The personalised cancer vaccines will be created from specific mutations found in a patient’s DNA. Unlike conventional vaccines, they will be created once patients have been diagnosed with cancer, with the aim of preventing the cancer from returning. This will be achieved by analysing biological features of a patient’s tumour.
The vaccines will then create an immune ‘memory’ to recognise and eliminate cancer cells to prevent the cancer from returning after surgery or chemotherapy.
To begin with only a handful of suitable patients from Sheffield will be invited to join the initial colorectal cancer vaccine trial which is being run at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester and numerous other sites across the country. However, as the programme expands, more cancer vaccine trials are set to open.
Weston Park Cancer Centre is one of 30 sites across the UK signed up to the programme, which is one of the biggest projects of its kind in the world.
Dr Alice Dewdney, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Weston Park Cancer Centre, said: “We’re really excited to be part of this landmark programme. Whilst only a handful of patients are set to benefit from the initial bowel cancer vaccine trial, this 'matchmaking’ platform provides a huge opportunity for our patients to try out a new generation of vaccines individualised to their DNA. Being part of the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad will also act as a stepping stone for us to bring our own cancer vaccine trials to Weston Park Cancer Centre in the near future to the benefit of patients in Sheffield and beyond.”
Patients with stage 2 or 3 rectal cancer or stage 3 colon cancer and who have had their tumour completely removed surgically but who are found to have circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in their blood will be screened into the trial. Eligible patients will then have tumour samples sent to the laboratories for analysis. Patients meeting the criteria will then be put forward to test the vaccines in the initial colorectal cancer vaccine trial.
The programme is being run by the Cancer Clinical Trials Centre at Weston Park. The Centre is currently celebrating its 25th year. Its work is supported by Weston Park Cancer Charity.
