NHS patients to take part in skin cancer vaccine drive
NHS patients will be able to take part in a revolutionary skin cancer vaccine trial, the health service has announced.
The NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) was unveiled last year with the aim of accelerating access to mRNA vaccine clinical trials for different forms of cancer.
Hundreds of people with bowel cancer have already received personalised vaccines and the programme is now extending to those with advanced skin cancer, otherwise known as melanoma.
The NHS plans to provide up to 10,000 patients in England with personalised, ground-breaking cancer treatments in the UK by 2030 through this programme.
The melanoma vaccine, known as iSCIB1+ (Immunobody), helps the immune system recognise cancer cells and better respond to existing immunotherapy treatment.
By working to help the body recognise, attack and 'remember' cancer cells, it can help stop the disease returning.
About half of melanoma patients respond to immunotherapy, but those who do not are at higher risk of their cancer getting worse.
The vaccine is being trialled by needle-free injection into the skin or muscle and the NHS, working with UK life sciences company Scancell, said it will begin next month with dozens taking part by October.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said he was taking steps to fast-track clinical trials and 'cut red tape for researchers'.
He said: 'This kind of innovation is nothing short of life-saving and I want to see more of these world-leading treatments being developed in the UK.'
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, accounting for around four per cent of all new cancer cases.
Prof Peter Johnson, the NHS national cancer director, said: 'Cancer vaccines have the potential to revolutionise cancer care for patients in this country and across the world – and to save more lives.
'It's incredibly exciting that the NHS is expanding its world-leading programme so more patients with different types of cancer could benefit from the development of new vaccines that could stop their cancer coming back.'
'I feel so lucky'
Paul Thomas, 63, from New Milton, Hampshire, was first diagnosed with advanced skin cancer in 2017 and the disease kept returning following treatment.
Last year, the grandfather of four and window cleaning business owner, was given the opportunity to be part of the SCOPE study skin cancer vaccine trial, which is now part of the CVLP so that more patients can take part at NHS sites across the country.
He said: 'I feel so lucky to be put on the trial. Thankfully I was still quite fit and since I've been on it, my tumours have all shrunk. Every time I go for a scan they seem to be shrinking, which is really exciting.
'I'm really hoping for total eradication of my cancer, as opposed to being put in remission, and I'm feeling optimistic/'
Dr Nermeen Varawalla, the chief medical officer at Scancell, said: 'Cancer vaccines have the potential to transform immunotherapy, redefine treatment options and ultimately save lives.
'Recent clinical data has demonstrated that our potent, tumour-targeted off-the-shelf cancer vaccine delivers strong efficacy, with the potential for meaningful long-term survival benefits in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma.'
Susanna Daniels, the chief executive of the charity Melanoma Focus, said cases of skin cancer in the UK were on the rise and so they would be encouraging eligible patients to take part in these ground-breaking trials.
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'We're now in the third and fourth generation of these drugs, but the first generation of these drugs we've been using for 15 years for diabetes,' he said. 'There is nothing of concern that has emerged. In fact, all we're seeing are benefits. I'm not too worried about longer term side effects coming out. 'There is no real biological reason why there should be dangerous side-effects in the way that we know these drugs work. 'The benefits of the weight loss improvement in the diabetes are actually by themselves helping health and preventing other diseases, like cancer, heart attacks, renal failure, and potentially even reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. 'All those benefits, even if there was something that we hadn't really thought of that emerged down the line, I suspect that the harm of that is outweighed by the potential benefits of weight loss improvement in diabetes control.' 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The drugs are sold under brand names like Mounjaro and Wegovy and work by reducing food cravings. Obese patients can currently be prescribed the jabs on the NHS after being referred to specialist weight loss clinics, which are usually located in hospitals. Hundreds of thousands of people also access the medication privately at pharmacies. There have been warnings about buying potentially unsafe jabs online from unregulated retailers and potentially missing out on wraparound support. Experts said the jabs should not be seen as the first option in weight loss and should be used in conjunction with lifestyle changes, such as eating more healthily and increasing exercise. Professor Graham Easton, a GP who has been using weight loss jabs himself, said: 'I think it's a major issue about the proper funding and resourcing of not only the GPs in the surgeries but also the wraparound care we talked about. 'I think the other issue is that so far, to my knowledge, the NHS and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have talked about this being something you take for two years, and that's probably related to data from research studies. 'But as we discussed, this is likely to be a lifelong commitment if it is going to be worthwhile to the NHS. 'There's no point in most people taking it for a couple of years and then have the weight bouncing back. 'You can argue possibly you're about to prepare for surgery or something, but in most cases it doesn't make any sense. 'Then I think there's a big issue around access. Most obesity occurs in poorer populations as wealthier populations tend to not be so affected. 'There's a massive sort of socio-economic inequality and there is a worry about this driving that inequality even further. 'Unless the NHS makes sure that these are available across the board equally, I think that's a major risk.' Prof Easton said recent studies had shown people who stopped taking the drugs had put the weight they lost back on within around a year. 'That's often true of any diet, people would say, and that's certainly my experience of having wrestled with my weight in diets over the years,' he said. 'All I would say that I found interesting from that review was that they were suggesting perhaps that weight returns even quicker after having been on GLP-1 drugs. 'Then speculating, because there was no way of knowing from that review, that perhaps it's because people are not changing the behaviours we've been talking about like exercise and other lifestyle changes, just relying on the drugs. 'When you stop them, of course, you're going to put weight back on. The switch is turned back off, or whatever it was. 'I mean very similar to, for example, statins or anti-hypertensive blood pressure medications, if you want lifelong effects, you have to keep on them lifelong.' 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'We're now in the third and fourth generation of these drugs, but the first generation of these drugs we've been using for 15 years for diabetes,' he said. 'There is nothing of concern that has emerged. In fact, all we're seeing are benefits. I'm not too worried about longer term side effects coming out. 'There is no real biological reason why there should be dangerous side-effects in the way that we know these drugs work. 'The benefits of the weight loss improvement in the diabetes are actually by themselves helping health and preventing other diseases, like cancer, heart attacks, renal failure, and potentially even reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. 'All those benefits, even if there was something that we hadn't really thought of that emerged down the line, I suspect that the harm of that is outweighed by the potential benefits of weight loss improvement in diabetes control.' Dr Cork said no drug is without side-effects and previous weight loss medications had failed because of them. 'There are side-effects, there are some concerning side-effects that tend to be very rare, but then you can monitor for those side-effects,' he said. 'As long as you're getting the correct care, as long as your GP is aware that you're taking them, then those should be identified. 'If you do find those side-effects, you can stop taking the drug.'
