Pancreatic cancer vaccine trial launched in UK

A pancreatic cancer 'vaccine' is being tested in the UK.

The phase III clinical trial - known as the TeloVac trial - will involve more than 1,000 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer at 53 hospitals across the UK, led by the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

Although called a vaccine, the new treatment does not prevent someone from developing the disease, but is designed to stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells.

The vaccine, known as GV1001, contains small bits of an enzyme called telomerase which is produced in abundance by adult cancer cells. It is hoped the vaccine will trigger cells of the immune system to target and destroy the telomerase-rich cancer cells.

Patients in the trial will be treated with the vaccine and chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone.

The vaccine is not expected to cure pancreatic cancer, but it is hoped that it may extend the lives of pancreatic cancer patients.

Pancreatic cancer has one of the worst survival rates for any cancer. Nine out of ten cases are diagnosed in the later stages of disease, when surgery is ineffective. Just three per cent of patients live for five years after being diagnosed with the disease.

The TeloVac trial is being funded by Cancer Research UK.

This article was published on Fri 15 April 2011