Home > Lifestyle News > A vaccine treatment undergoing testing could halt and shrink aggressive cancers
July 13 2010
A vaccine treatment undergoing testing could halt and shrink aggressive cancers
AN injection to help kill off the most deadly cancers, including breast, bowel and cervical tumours, has been created by scientists.
The drug, which is already being tested on patients, shrinks tumours and stops them from spreading.
Thousands of lives a year could be saved by the vaccine, which can also be effective against pancreatic and ovarian cancers, its creator Professor Ray Iles said. He believes the injection could be on the market in as little as five years.
The Middlesex University vaccine capitalises on the finding that some of the most vicious tumours produce a hormone normally only found in pregnancy – human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, which forms the basis of pregnancy testing kits.
Research by Professor Iles, of Middlesex University, shows that a form of hCG is made by around half of bladder and pancreatic cancers. Some breast, bowel, ovarian and cervical tumours also pump it out as these aggressive types grow quickly and spread.The injection, which is being developed in conjunction with US firm Celldex Therapeutics, revs up the immune system, directing it to destroy hCG.
This shrinks tumours and, crucially, stops them from spreading, or metastasising. The spread of the disease to other organs is the most common cause of death in the 155,000 cancer patients who die each year in the UK.
"Not only are you causing the cancer to shrink, it is not metastasising. If you come in with chemotherapy and surgery, you’ve got a cure," Professor Iles said.
Tests on animals have already had "extremely good" results and preliminary trials on people show it to be safe.
The jab is now being given to 60 men and women newly diagnosed with bladder cancer. Further, larger trials will be needed before hCG injections are deemed suitable for widespread use.
The destruction of hCG would also mean the jab acted as a contraceptive. However, women’s fertility should return to normal within a year after completing treatment.
A similar approach is being taken in the US to tackle breast cancer. Immune system expert Vincent Tuohy has created a drug that targets a protein produced by breastfeeding women and most breast cancers.
"(The hormone) hCG looks like a very promising target for early vaccine therapy against bladder cancer," he said.
Cancer Research UK said there was still a long way to go before researchers could definitively say this promising vaccine would help save lives.
< Previous entry: "Viva Espana!" Spain parties over historic football win
> Next entry: Red-hot Ferrari 458 Italia zooms into Brisbane
