Exciting progress towards a new breast cancer vaccine
The future is coming
Imagine a future where innovative technology, like vaccines, could provide a permanent cure for some breast cancers. This prospect is a very real possibility, both overseas and in New Zealand.
Recently, thousands of patients in England signed up to ground breaking trials of personalised cancer vaccines in a world-first for cancer treatment.
The jabs, which aim to provide a permanent cure and prevent recurrence, are custom-built for each patient. Because of this, they can be tailored to illicit an immune response in every patient and treat a range of cancers. The trials are expected to focus on colorectal, skin, lung, bladder, pancreatic and kidney cancer, officials from the NHS reported to the Guardian earlier this year.
Cancer vaccines are a form of immunotherapy. Unlike vaccines that protect from an infection, such as the seasonal flu jab, cancer vaccines treat people with existing illness. They are designed to train the patient’s immune system to recognise, and then kill, cancer cells if they come back.
This research into cancer vaccines is at an early stage. However, trials have already shown they can be effective at killing off any remaining tumour cells after surgery, while dramatically cutting the risk of cancer returning.
Details of the trial were revealed at the world’s largest cancer conference, the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) in Chicago in June.
Vaccines in New Zealand
Closer to home, Breast Cancer Foundation is funding world-leading breast cancer research with The Ferrier Institute in Wellington. Since 2017, this partnership has worked to develop a cancer vaccine for Triple Negative Breast Cancer, right here in Aotearoa.
Approximately 350 women are diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) every year. Women under the age of 44 are disproportionately affected with nearly 15% of diagnoses in this age group being TNBC.
Triple Negative Breast Cancer is a complex and challenging disease to treat. The 10-year survival of TNBC is 79% compared to 92% for hormone receptor-positive breast cancers. These breast cancers tend to be more aggressive and there are also fewer treatment options, with a much higher rate of recurrence at 5 years.
We are very excited about the prospect of developing a safe, effective, world-leading treatment to provide hope for these patients.
In February, Ferrier Institute presented their progress to the Breast Cancer Foundation. Professor Gavin Painter described the project as “heading towards shovel ready. We have transitioned our vaccine design to a scalable, easy-to-manufacture version, an industry-standard mRNA vaccine.” It will be able to be manufactured in New Zealand which significantly reduces costs and helps speed up the time to trial.
Ferrier Institute now have a vaccine delivery technology that works very well in pre-clinical studies. The team is continuing to work on documentation for the clinical trial, with a focus on obtaining more pre-clinical data, including toxicity studies. This work is being supported by Malaghan Institute in Wellington.
Further testing will take place throughout 2024 and will aim to investigate the effect of the vaccine on breast tumours beyond just immunogenicity – the ability of the vaccine to promote an immune response.
In March 2024, BCFNZ arranged for Professor Painter to meet medical oncologists from Australia and New Zealand to discuss how the clinical trial might work. It’s important the trial is workable for doctors and patients within our health system.
These are significant developments and there’s still work to be done. We are very excited about progress to date. We will keep you updated about this project.