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Medical News Today
3 days ago
- Health
- Medical News Today
Could a new vaccine help prevent colorectal, pancreatic cancer recurrence?
Gastrointestinal cancers — including pancreatic, and colorectal cancers — account for about 26% of all cancers worldwide. Both pancreatic and colorectal cancers are susceptible to gene mutations called KRAS mutations, which can make these cancers harder to treat.A new study shows that an 'off-the-shelf' vaccine may help prevent or delay cancer recurrence in people with colorectal or pancreatic cancer tumors driven by KRAS mutations. Research shows that gastrointestinal cancers — including stomach, liver, esophageal, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers — account for about 26% of all cancers worldwide and 35% of all cancer-related deaths. Colorectal cancer is currently considered to be the third most common type of cancer globally, and the second most common cause of cancer-related death. While pancreatic cancer ranks as the 12th most common cancer worldwide, it is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related death. Both pancreatic and colorectal cancers are susceptible to gene mutations called KRAS mutations. These mutations can cause cells to grow and divide very rapidly, potentially leading to cancer. Cancers with KRAS mutations have historically been hard to treat. Now, a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine shows that an 'off-the-shelf' vaccine may help prevent or delay cancer recurrence in people with colorectal or pancreatic cancer tumors driven by KRAS mutations. What does the 'off-the-shelf' cancer vaccine do?For this study, which included follow-up data from the AMPLIFY-201 phase 1 trial, researchers recruited 25 participants with either colon or pancreatic cancer, who had undergone surgery and still showed traces of cancer DNA in their blood, which is an indicator of potential cancer received injections of ELI-002 2P — an 'off-the-shelf' or standardized vaccine that can revive the body's immune system so it recognizes and attacks cancer cells in a general way. 'We took a unique approach in AMPLIFLY-201, employing a diagnostic that detects circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and tests that identify a tumor protein, CA19-9, in the blood, to identify patients who show signs of minimal residual disease in their blood, but before relapse is detected in traditional radiographic scans,' Zev Wainberg, MD, MSc, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and researcher in the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and first author of this study, explained for Medical News Today.'This group of pancreatic patients in historical studies really needed better treatment since their median time until relapse was historically only five to six months. The study also enrolled five colorectal cancer patients, who also had high risk of relapse with positive tests to tumor markers in the blood,' Wainberg told survival longer than previous results indicatedAt the study's conclusion, researchers found that after a follow-up of almost 20 months, participants' average relapse-free survival was 16.33 months and average overall survival was almost 29 months. 'These are a lot longer than the historical results of these patients,' Wainberg reported that 24% of participants experienced a complete clearing of biomarkers associated with their tumors. And 67% of participants developed immune responses to other tumor-related mutations. 'Targeting KRAS has long been considered one of the difficult challenges in cancer therapy,' Wainberg said in a press release, noting that:'This study shows that the ELI-002 2P vaccine can safely and effectively train the immune system to recognize and fight cancer-driving mutations. It offers a promising approach to generating precise and durable immune responses without the complexity or cost of fully personalized vaccines.'Could this experimental vaccine possibly prevent cancer? Anton Bilchik, MD, PhD, surgical oncologist, chief of medicine and Director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at Providence Saint John's Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA, told MNT that these findings are very exciting and very important, given that pancreatic cancer is a deadly cancer and the treatments, while being more effective than they were maybe 10 years ago, are still relatively ineffective in terms of curing patients with pancreatic cancer. 'Secondly, immunotherapy has really not been shown to be effective for either the treatment of pancreas cancer, and has been shown to be effective only in a very small subset of patients with advanced colon cancer,' Bilchik, who was not involved in the study, added.'So the fact that this study shows that a T cell-based vaccine can improve survival in patients with pancreas cancer and colon cancer is innovative, is very exciting, and certainly opens up the possibilities of immunotherapy as a possible effective treatment for what is a deadly cancer, in particular, pancreas cancer,' he this study is important, Bilchik said it is just the tip of the iceberg, with more studies needed to be done, including some looking at whether or not this vaccine might be able to help prevent cancer in the first place. 'So before people have a chance to get pancreas cancer, if they get a blood test that shows tumor cells or shows that they're at risk for getting these cancers, would this type of vaccine prevent them from getting cancer?' he asked. Why novel approaches to KRAS-driven cancers are importantMNT also spoke with Usman Shah, MD, medical director of gastrointestinal oncology at Atlantic Health's Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey, about this who was not involved in the research, commented he reviewed the findings with both enthusiasm and cautious optimism.'In this trial, patients with minimal residual disease — as evidenced by biomarkers like CA19-9, CEA, and/or circulating tumor DNA — were treated with ELI‑002, a cancer vaccine targeting KRAS mutations,' Shah said.'This phase 1 study demonstrated that 68% of participants developed robust T cell responses, which importantly correlated with significantly improved relapse-free survival and overall survival. As this approach uses an off-the-shelf vaccine approach, it can be more accessible to more patients in a shorter time than personalized vaccine treatments.' – Usman Shah, MD'The importance of developing novel approaches for KRAS-driven cancers cannot be overstated, as KRAS mutations are prevalent in several solid tumors and are associated with poor prognosis,' he continued. 'For example, 90-95% of pancreatic cancers harbor a KRAS mutation. ELI‑002's ability to induce strong and durable immune responses offers a potential strategy to prevent cancer recurrence in high-risk patients.' 'Early hints from the randomized AMPLIFY‑7P trial evaluating this approach against standard of care are encouraging, although final results are pending,' Shah added. 'Continued investment in such innovative approaches is essential to improving outcomes for patients with KRAS-mutant cancers.'
Yahoo
11-08-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Remarkable' pancreatic cancer jab offers longer survival hope for patients
Pancreatic cancer patients have been given fresh hope after a new vaccine appeared to slow disease progression and increase survival. Researchers described the findings as 'remarkable' and have already started testing the efficacy of the jab among a larger group of pancreatic and bowel cancer patients. Pancreatic cancer has some of the poorest cancer survival rates because it is often not detected until it is advanced. Many patients see their cancer unremitting, even after undergoing traditional treatments including chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Now a new vaccine has been developed to help harness the body's immune system to find and attack cancer cells. The jab has shown promise in an early trial. Pancreatic and bowel cancers frequently carry a mutation in a gene called KRAS. This mutation plays a key role in tumour growth and scientists developed the jab to recognise and attack KRAS-mutant cancer cells. The jab is a new type of immunotherapy vaccine designed specifically to improve vaccine delivery to the lymph nodes, which act as filters for foreign substances in the body including cancer cells and infections. The phase 1 trial involved 20 patients with pancreatic cancer and five patients with bowel cancer. After an average follow-up time of almost 20 months, 68% of patients had developed strong immune responses specific to mutant KRAS tumour proteins. Though the study showed that some responded more favourably compared to others. Patients who had the strongest immune responses lived longer and stayed cancer free for longer than those with weaker responses. On average pancreatic cancer patients survived about two years and five months after receiving the vaccine, according to the study, which has been published in the journal Nature Medicine. At present, just three in 10 people diagnosed with the condition survive for a year. Meanwhile the average time before the disease returned, also known as recurrence free survival, was more than 15 months. While some cancer jabs are personalised to each patient, this jab, ELI-002 2P, has a single version which can be given to all patients. This 'off-the-shelf' version means that it can be manufactured in bulk and given more rapidly. Study lead Dr Zev Wainberg, from the University of California, Los Angeles, in the US, told the PA news agency: 'Pancreas cancer (patients) even after all standard treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, still have very high risks of the cancer coming back. 'Our results show in the group of patients who had profound immune responses (17/25 68%) achieved had longer survival than we have expected in this cancer, quite a remarkable finding to occur in a phase 1 trial.' He added: 'This is the first trial using a new platform, called AMP technology. 'The technology was invented by a material scientist engineer and immunology, Darrel Irvine, in his lab at MIT, and the platform was designed to improve vaccine delivery to lymph nodes which play a special role in the immune response.' Asked about next steps, he added: 'We launched a randomised phase 2 based on the initial results from the Amplify-201 study in January 2024. 'The accrual of the 144 patients participating was very rapid for this trial, which completed enrolment last December, and we are looking forward to the results as follow up continues.' Dr Chris Macdonald, head of research at the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: 'Immunotherapy, and in particular cancer vaccines, hold so much opportunity in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, but so far the opportunity has not been realised. 'However in recent years, this is changing. This study is the latest in a rapidly progressing field. 'This early-stage study takes an important step, showing the effectiveness of an 'off-the-shelf' cancer vaccine, potentially breaking a reliance on having to generate a vaccine specifically for every individual patient. 'This approach saves time and is less costly and resource heavy, meaning more people could potentially benefit. 'The future is bright and if the momentum in this field continues to grow, more people could have the opportunity to benefit from immunotherapy, helping them to live better for longer.' Dr Dani Edmunds, research information manager at Cancer Research UK, added: 'Although we've helped to double cancer survival in the UK in the past 50 years, progress has not been the same for pancreatic cancer which remains hard to treat. 'Therefore, it's promising to see that vaccines could help people with pancreatic and bowel cancer live cancer-free for longer. 'The results suggest that the vaccine can boost the immune system against cancer in some people following standard treatment. 'These people survived and stayed free from disease for longer than people who didn't get as strong an immune boost following vaccination. 'Larger controlled trials are needed to confirm these initial findings about the benefits of the vaccine. 'More research is needed to understand why some people benefit from the vaccine while others don't so that we can make sure we're beating cancer for everyone.'
CBC
08-08-2025
- Health
- CBC
Early menopause linked to Alzheimer's risk, say scientists
Early menopause under the age of 40 could raise the risk for women to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, according to several recent studies. The disease disproportionately affects women over men, and scientists say further investigation into the causes needs to be done.
