Clinical trials of the world’s first personalized vaccine against skin cancer are underway in Britain, the BBC reported. The vaccine is designed to help the patient’s immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells.
It used the same technology as current Covid vaccines.
“Personalized vaccine” means that its composition is changed to meet the individual needs of patients. It is designed to match the unique genetic signature of a patient’s tumor and works by instructing the body to produce proteins or antibodies.
The BBC reports that doctors at University College London are offering the vaccine in combination with another drug, pembrolizumab or Keytruda, which also helps the immune system kill cancer cells. The combination treatment, made by Moderna and Merck Sharp and Dohme, is not yet available routinely in the national healthcare system, outside of clinical trials.
Dr. Heather Shaw of University College London told the media that the vaccine has the potential to cure people with melanoma and is being tested on other types of cancer, such as lung, bladder and kidney tumors.
Tags: testing personalized vaccine skin cancer
