The mRNA revolution continues. Just a few years after mRNA vaccines proved their efficacy against COVID-19, scientists are now turning their attention to lung cancer.
The mRNA vaccine, known as BTN116, developed by the German biotechnology company BioNTech, is the first of its kind and has entered phase 1 clinical trials in seven countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. This vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease.
“Lung cancer is the biggest killer worldwide. And using the mRNA technology, this is just a first generation,” said medical oncologist Siow Ming Lee, a consultant medical oncologist at University College London Hospitals (UCHL) Clinical Research Facility, which is leading the trial in the U.K.
“But hopefully, it’s a beginning, and it can lead to a better outcome for lung cancer patients worldwide, not only the U.K. but other places like Canada, America and China,” he told Global News.
The vaccine works by identifying and targeting cancer cells, Lee said, and is designed to complement other lung cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Phase 1 clinical trials have been launched across 34 research sites in seven countries: the U.K., the U.S., Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey. In the U.S., three locations are currently recruiting patients, accepting people at both early and late stages of the disease.
“It’s very exciting. When we look back less than four years ago with the mRNA COVID vaccine, people had doubts and there was uncertainty, but it definitely works,” Lee said. “I think people need to remember the COVID-19 vaccine worked for cancer patients. It reduced mortality more than the general population.”
In Canada, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths. According to Lung Cancer Canada, more than 20,000 Canadians will die from lung cancer this year — more than the combined deaths from breast, prostate and colon cancers.
The disease is also the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with 1.8 million fatalities in 2020, accounting for the highest mortality rates among both men and women.
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Although treatments like chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery and radiation are available, lung cancer is often diagnosed at advanced stages, leaving fewer treatment options, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
But the mRNA technology could represent the next major advancement in cancer treatment by training the immune system to target and fight lung cancer cells, Lee said.
About the mRNA vaccine
The development of the lung cancer vaccine began four years ago, following the successful creation of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine by BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna, Lee explained.
Not only did the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine prove safe and effective in protecting against the virus, but the scientific community also observed a reduction in mortality rates among cancer patients, he said.
Although mRNA technology has been in development for decades, it gained prominence with the success of COVID-19 vaccines, proving its effectiveness in combating viruses.
The technology works by using messenger RNA to deliver instructions to the body to produce proteins that prepare the immune system to target specific viruses. This same principle can be applied to harness the immune system against tumours.
“The COVID vaccine targeted against a spike protein for the virus,” Lee said.
“So we’re going to use that very simple technology to target the cancer protein, so we identified a common protein in lung cancer patients… and there are many other proteins as well for melanoma and other cancers… but this is a lung cancer patient. We’re going to raise this mRNA vaccine against the protein and then it will hunt the lung cancer.”
But this cannot be done alone, he stressed.
The mRNA vaccine needs to be in combination with other treatments, like chemotherapy, depending on how severe the cancer is.
Janusz Racz, a 67-year-old lung cancer patient from the U.K., was the first to receive the vaccine as part of the clinical trials that started on Tuesday.
“I thought it over, and … decided to take part because I hoped it would provide a defense against cancer cells. But I also thought that my participation in this research could help other people in the future and help this therapy become more widely available,” he said in a Friday media release.
Unlike the COVID-19 vaccine, which requires just one to two shots, the lung cancer treatment involves multiple doses.
So far, Racz has received six consecutive injections five minutes apart over 30 minutes, Lee said. He will get the vaccine every week for six consecutive weeks, and then every three weeks for 54 weeks.
The goal is to eradicate the cancer and prevent its return. However, Lee emphasized that it’s still early days, as the vaccine is currently in phase 1 of clinical trials. Following successful safety trials, Lee anticipates the vaccine will enter phase 2 in 2025.
“It’s a long journey ahead. But hopefully, we can kickstart this vaccine research the way we were able to kickstart with the COVID vaccine,” he said.
