A personalised cancer vaccine jab that could help prevent the illness returning after surgery, has been given to a patient for the first time in what’s been called a “landmark moment” for people who have the disease.
Elliot Pfebve, a bowel cancer patient, was referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham for chemotherapy and to take part in the clinical trial after having a 30cm tumour removed from his large intestine.
How do cancer vaccines work?
Mr Pfebve, a 55-year-old father-of-four, discovered he had the illness during a routine health check with his GP.
The higher education lecturer said: “Taking part in this trial tallies with my profession and as a community-centred person.
“I want to impact other people’s lives positively and help them realise their potential. This trial, if it is successful, it may help thousands, if not millions, of people, so they can have hope and may not experience all I have gone through.”
Thousands of other NHS cancer patients in England will be recruited to take part in vaccine trials for various forms of cancer in the coming years as part of a new scheme, officials have said.
The vaccine, created using mRNA technology and developed by biopharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Genentech, works by looking for specific mutations in a patient’s tumour, with clinicians using the information to create a personalised treatment.
The jab is designed to stimulate a patient’s immune system after surgery to remove tumours so it can recognise and attack any remaining cancer cells.
Dr Victoria Kunene, a consultant clinical oncologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and principal investigator for the trial, said it could be a “significant and positive development for patients”.
But Dr Kunene warned it’s “too early yet to say if these [trials] will be successful, though we are extremely hopeful”.
The trial that Mr Pfebve took part in is one of several that will be taking place at NHS trusts across the country, after 30 hospitals signed up to be involved in the NHS England’s Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.
It could expand to include patients with other cancers such as pancreatic and lung cancer, NHS England said.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “Seeing Elliot receive his first treatment as part of the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad is a landmark moment for patients and the health service as we seek to develop better and more effective ways to stop this disease.”
Professor Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer at the NHS, said the vaccine may allow clinicians to prevent cancer tumours returning after surgery.
Trials have enrolled dozens of people, NHS England said, with the majority expected to take part from 2026 onwards.
Iain Foulkes, from Cancer Research UK, said the vaccine could be “a game changer in preventing the onset or return of bowel cancer”.