A vaccine against pancreatic cancer has shown promising results in treating the disease.
The research, published in the scientific journal natureis in a phase 1 clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety of the compound.
The immunizer was capable of inducing the production of immune system cells against tumors in 50% of the volunteers who received the vaccine, produced by BioNTech in partnership with Pfizer.
The platform used is RNA, the same as immunizers against Covid-19.
A CNN Radio the head of Oncology at INCA Alexandre de Mendonça Palladino explained the vaccine strategy.
According to him, this type of immunotherapy stimulates, as the name implies, the immune system and, until now, had not been shown to be effective against pancreatic cancer – which is one of the most lethal.
“The vaccine offers proteins to make the immune system identify the disease as foreign and act on the cancer cells”, he said.
Among the 16 patients evaluated, “half of them were able to produce immunological activity against the disease, which is a better result in terms of recurrence, which is very promising.”
Even so, the oncologist points out that the study will still take a few years to move to phase 2 and then phase 3.
“Perhaps up to 3 years or so to be incorporated into the treatment, even so, it is a promising thing”, he added.
Diagnosis
Palladino explained that pancreatic cancer is characterized by being diagnosed at an advanced stage, when symptoms are already present.
He also warned that the disease has a “high rate” of recurrence, and there is no effective screening test.
*Produced by Isabel Campos
Source: CNN Brasil
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