Cancer vaccines are an exciting and emerging approach to cancer treatment. They work by harnessing the body’s own immune system to identify and destroy tumour cells. Unlike standard chemotherapy, cancer vaccines are designed to target cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue, offering the potential for highly personalised treatment. This precision matters because it can reduce side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy and may help reduce the risk of cancer returning.
Can vaccines protect us from cancer?
Most of us are familiar with traditional vaccines, which protect against disease by introducing a harmless or inactivated version of a virus or bacteria. This primes the immune system before exposure, reducing the risk of infection or lessening its severity. Well-known examples include vaccines for measles and COVID-19.
Over time, scientists have discovered links between certain viral infections and an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer. These vaccines aim to block these viral infections, stimulating the immune system in healthy individuals and lowering the risk of cancer development.
An example of this type of vaccine that is available on the NHS is the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which protects against strains of HPV that can lead to cervical and other cancers. This vaccine has already made a significant impact in reducing HPV-related cancer cases.
Vaccines to treat cancer
Therapeutic cancer vaccines take a different approach: they aim to treat cancer rather than prevent it. By boosting the immune response, these vaccines help the body to identify and eliminate cancer cells, stop tumours from spreading and establish long-term immune memory to prevent recurrence. Cancer vaccines fall under a broader category of treatments known as immunotherapy.
These vaccines work by introducing harmless proteins from the surface of the patient’s own cancer cells, called antigens, to trigger an immune response. There are two main types of antigens involved:
- Tumour-associated antigens, found in normal tissues but are expressed at much higher levels in tumours
- Tumour-specific antigens, found in tumour cells and are not normally present in healthy cells – they often arise from genetic mutations within tumours or from viral infections
Researchers are looking into the best way to deliver these antigens and so are researching a variety of different cancer vaccine technologies. While therapeutic cancer vaccines are not yet standard care, many are advancing through clinical trials, showing promise in improving patient outcomes and survival rates.
Why is it hard to make a vaccine for cancer?
- Tumours can suppress immune responses by preventing immune cells from reaching them or by releasing immune cell blocking molecules, making it hard for the body to attack the tumour
- Each cancer is genetically unique and requires personalised vaccines, which can be costly and time-consuming – it is not possible to create a universal cancer vaccine
- Because cancer cells originate from normal cells, identifying tumour-specific antigens is challenging and selecting the right antigen is crucial to avoid harming healthy cells and causing serious side effects
- People with weakened immune systems may not respond well to vaccines
- As these are new therapies, long-term effects are still being studied
Can you get a cancer vaccine on the NHS?
The NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP), launched in May 2024, by NHS England, is a collaboration with the Genomic Medicine Service and leading industry partners. It aims to accelerate access to personalised cancer vaccine clinical trials by genetically sequencing and enrolling up to 10,000 patients over a period of seven years.
Eligible NHS cancer patients aged 16 and over may be invited by their care team to join the CVLP, which uses existing patient data, surplus tissue and a blood sample to quickly match individuals to suitable cancer vaccine trials. Clinical teams will then discuss trial options with patients and those who consent will be referred to the nearest NHS trial site.
However, there are currently no NHS CVLP cancer vaccine trials for brain tumour patients.
Research is progressing in this space and an innovative immunotherapy clinical trial for glioblastoma patients will be launching in early 2025 based on work that took place at The University of Edinburgh, home to our Scottish Centre of Excellence. You can read more here.
How is Brain Tumour Research campaigning to support cancer vaccines in the UK?
One of the barriers to developing cancer vaccines is the way in which tissue taken during surgery is stored.
In routine clinical practice, most brain tissue samples are preserved using a process called formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE). This method allows the sample to be stored for many years and is important for routine diagnostic testing. However, FFPE processing chemically modifies DNA, RNA and proteins, which makes it more difficult to carry out advanced molecular analyses, such as the development of personalised cancer vaccines.
In contrast, another type of tissue storage called fresh-frozen maintains the native molecular integrity of DNA, RNA and proteins. Because of this, fresh-frozen samples can be used for genome sequencing and to create personalised cancer vaccines. Ensuring tissue is handled and stored correctly is key to enabling patients' future treatment opportunities.
In 2023, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT), for which Brain Tumour Research provides the secretariat, published a report called Pathway to a Cure. The report highlighted the urgent need for robust, standardised tissue collection and storage across the UK and provided recommendations. Brain Tumour Research is committed to pursuing updates on the Government’s plans to action, based on the recommendations made within the report.
Pushing for these changes is a core aspect of our work for the brain tumour community. If you would like to get involved, make a donation to ensure we can continue with essential work.
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