The technology used to create COVID-19 vaccines is getting a new mission.
What happened: Global clinical trials for a new lung cancer vaccine have begun with 130 patients across seven countries.
- The vaccine, dubbed BNT116 by its maker BioNTech, uses messenger RNA (mRNA) to instruct the body to fight cancer cells while (unlike chemotherapy) leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Why it matters: 1.8 million people die from lung cancer every year, making it the world’s deadliest cancer. If successful, mRNA cancer vaccines could be a lifesaver for millions.
- In Canada, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of the disease, and kills more than 20,000 people every year.
Catch up: mRNA vaccines, which were widely deployed against COVID-19, work by sending instructions to cells in the body to trigger an immune response against targeted viruses or, in the case of cancer vaccines, cancer cells.
- 1,600 different cancer vaccines and treatments are currently under development and some experts have predicted at least some will be ready for widespread use in patients by the end of the decade.
What’s next: If phase 1 trials go as planned, the lung cancer vaccine is expected to enter phase 2 sometime next year.