The vaccine is personalised, that is to say developed specifically for each individual patient, and it only takes a few weeks to produce it.
According to the researchers, it works by hunting cancer cells and preventing them from returning.
The vaccine has already gone through two test phases, the last of which ended in December. Based on this, the researchers concluded that the risk of dying, or that the cancer would return after three years in patients with a serious form of skin cancer, was reduced by 49 per cent.
Third test phase
Now the third and final phase of testing has begun, led by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH).
Heather Shaw, who coordinates the tests, says the vaccine can make patients with skin cancer healthy, and she confirms that it is also being tested on other forms of cancer.
– This is one of the most exciting things I have seen in a long time, says Shaw to the PA news agency.
The vaccine has been developed to speed up the immune system so that it can fight back against patients’ specific forms of cancer and tumours.
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Use of AI
In order to produce a vaccine that works, a small piece of the cancerous tumor is removed from the patient. DNA sequencing is then carried out and artificial intelligence (AI) is used.
The result is a vaccine that is specially adapted to the individual cancer patient, but which will not be effective on other patients.
The vaccine is now also being tested on patients with lung, bladder and kidney cancer.
– I think there is real hope that this will be a “game changer” in immunotherapy, says Shaw.
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