An experimental vaccine delayed the recurrence of pancreatic cancer
Therapeutic mRNA vaccine technology has reached the point where some facilities can create and rapidly deliver individualized neoantigen vaccines. The T lymphocyte is an important part of the immune system and has become a central focus in the fight against cancer. Researchers at Sloan Kettering decided to see if a vaccine could help people with pancreatic cancer, the third leading cause of cancer deaths in this country. When someone’s pancreatic cancer is surgically removed, the tumor recurs 90% of the time at a median of 7–9 month. But there are long term survivors, and their cancers produce proteins that are immunogenic neoantigens. The long term survivors have 12-fold higher densities of activated CD8 + T cells. . On May 10 2023 the Sloan Kettering researchers published a study of 16 people with pancreatic cancer who were vaccinated with an individualized mRNA vaccine in an attempt to activate their T cells.. From December 2019 to Augus...