The NHS is launching a 'game-changer' vaccine rollout aimed at treating skin cancer.
The world's first vaccine for melanoma, developed by pharma giants Moderna and MSD is custom-built for individuals using the specific genetic makeup of their tumour.
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is now leading the final phase of trials of the therapy, which scientists hope could also be used to stop lung, bladder and kidney cancer.
The melanoma vaccine, known as mRNA-4157 (V940), works by telling the body to hunt down cancer cells and prevent the potentially deadly disease from coming back.
Steve Young was the first person to receive a jab
PA
One of the first patients on the trial at UCLH is Steve Young from Stevenage who discovered a bump on the head he had had for around a decade was melanoma.
The 52-year-old said: "I had a bump on my head and I think I had it for possibly 10 years. One of my best friends is a retired GP and he did look at it a couple of times over the years and he said, 'Oh, it’s okay, it’s nothing to worry about.'
"And then lockdown happened and sort of two years went by where I didn’t see him or sort of see anyone else. But then I really started to notice it at the end of 2022. The bump just felt bigger and I was more aware of it.
"At the end of 2022, I asked my friend to look at it again and he said 'I’m not happy with that, I think something’s changed, you need to get it checked’."
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Steve Young from Stevenage said the drug triggered his 'geek radar'
PA
When he was told about the trial at UCLH, Young said it "really triggered my geek radar."
He added: “When the Covid vaccine came out, and there was all these stories about the mRNA vaccine, I was just fascinated by it, I was fascinated by all the companies involved.
"It really piqued my interest. As soon as they mentioned this mRNA technology that was being used to potentially fight cancer, I was just like, ‘it sounds fascinating’ and I still feel the same. I’m really, really excited. I feel privileged to be involved in a such an important trial."
National co-ordinating investigator for the trial Dr Heather Shaw said: "'I think there is a real hope that these will be the gamechangers in immunotherapy.
"We've looked for a long time for something that would be additive to the immunotherapies that we already have - that we know can be life-changing for patients - but with something that's got a really acceptable side-effect profile."
Consultant Dr Heather Shaw speaking to patient Steve Young
PA
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Professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, Lawrence Young, who is not involved in the study, said: "This is one of the most exciting developments in modern cancer therapy.
"Combining a personalised cancer vaccine to boost a specific immune response to the patient's tumour along with using an antibody to release the brake on the body's immune response has already shown great promise in patients whose original skin cancer (melanoma) has been removed.
"The hope is that this approach could be extended to other cancers such those of the lung and colon."
