Scientists in England could be on the verge of rolling out a breakthrough vaccine that fights against lung cancer, the first of its kind in the world.
English Scientists Lead the Way
English University scientists are leading the way in developing a vaccine for lung cancer, which affects around 48,500 people in the UK every year. Scientists at England’s University of Oxford, the Francis Crick Institute, and University College London may be on the verge of developing the world’s first lung cancer vaccine.
Professor Mariam Jamal-Hanjani of University College London and the Francis Crick Institute will lead the clinical trial for the new vaccine rollout.
The institutions have managed to secure £1.7 million in funding from Cancer Research UK and the CRIS Cancer Foundation to develop the groundbreaking vaccine.
Vaccine Development
The groundbreaking vaccine, named ‘LungVax,’ will take inspiration from the Covid vaccine that was also developed at the Oxford institution. According to the researchers, the vaccine will have the ability to kill lung cancer cells and as a result, prevent the cancer from spreading.
Successful laboratory research could lead to the initiation of a clinical trial to assess the vaccine’s efficacy in humans. Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, Michelle Mitchell, argued that the vaccine is a groundbreaking moment for the future of fighting cancer.
Mitchell hailed the researchers who developed the Covid-19 vaccine, praising them for steering “the world out of the pandemic.”
Mitchell said that the same people who led the fight against Covid are now doing the same against cancer, which could lead to a life without the disease one day. According to Mitchell, “The science that successfully steered the world out of the pandemic could soon be guiding us toward a future where people can live longer, better lives free from the fear of cancer.”
Funding Allocation
Over two years, the research team will receive the £1.7 million funding that could lead to an initial rollout of 3000 vaccines to those who especially need them.
Vaccines will be available to the public initially at the Oxford Clinical BioManufacturing Facility, where a professor at the University described the difficulty in developing such a complex vaccine.
Oxford Professor, Tim Elliot, insisted, “Getting the immune system to recognise and attack cancer is one of the biggest challenges in cancer research today.”
Elliot spoke of the chance to have a groundbreaking, readily-available vaccine in Oxford’s name, “This research could deliver an off-the-shelf vaccine based on Oxford’s vaccine technology.”
Mitchell echoed these comments while speaking about the “golden age of research” with this vaccine being “one of many projects which we hope will transform lung cancer survival.”
Target Population
Current or ex-smokers aged 55-74 will be targeted for the vaccine’s trial, with smoking being the number one factor towards lung cancer.
Another professor at the University of Oxford, Professor Sarah Blagden, spoke of the success rate when targeting those who have caught their lung cancer in its earliest form. “When given to people with cancer at its earliest stages, anti-cancer treatments are more likely to be successful,” Blagden said.
After the success of Oxford’s Astra-Zeneca vaccine in the global fight against COVID-19, Oxford’s researchers are on the verge of another proud breakthrough.
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The post Made in the UK: World’s First Lung Cancer Vaccine on the Verge of Roll Out first appeared on Edge Media.
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