A UK wide trial has begun on TeloVac, which is a potential vaccine for treating pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all common cancers, and the trial is part of a new approach which aims to see if the vaccine can stimulate the immune system to fight cancer. The trial, which includes more than 1,000 people with advanced pancreatic cancer, will involve patients taking regular doses of vaccine together with chemotherapy. This will be compared against results where patients have just received chemotherapy alone.
The vaccine contains small amounts of the protein, telomerase, which is over produced by cancer cells. The aim of the vaccine is to stimulate the immune system to recognise the telomerase which sits on the surface of the cancer cells and to target the tumour.
The survival rate from pancreatic cancer is the worst from all common cancers, with only 3 in 100 patients surviving the disease for more than five years.
Results from the trial will be available in just over a year.
