A GP of 30 years has hailed the trial of an innovative cancer vaccine as a “significant breakthrough” that will “herald a new age” of cancer treatment, as it is set to be given to thousands of NHS patients.
The cutting edge treatment has been developed for cancer patients to destroy any lingering tumour cells and slash risk of the disease returning.
Each vaccine is personalised to the patient and is administered following surgery and chemotherapy.
Today (May 31), NHS bosses opened the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, a type of matchmaking service to connect eligible patients with clinical trials.
Doctor Vijay Nayar, from Healthium Clinics, believed this was a momentous step forward in the fight against cancer.
The experienced GP, who is involved in various immunisation programmes in Bedford, told Express.co.uk : “This is a significant breakthrough for our fight against cancer.
“Along with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy we now have another treatment option to target cancer cells that have evaded these therapies.
“The best news of all is that the cancer vaccine has been shown to be safe with few side effects in trials to date.
“The cancer vaccine has the potential to save many thousands of lives each year across a range of common cancers including skin, bowel, lung, breast and bladder cancers.”
If the results of this trial are good there is “no reason” why these vaccines should not become part of “standard treatment” for many cancers in years to come, he said.
Dr Nayar explained more about how the vaccine works.
He continued: “The cancer vaccine is tailored specifically for each individual and uses the same mRNA technology designed for Covid vaccines.
“A sample of genetic material is taken from the patient’s cancer and used to develop the bespoke vaccine which is then administered to the patient.
“The vaccine stimulates the patient’s immune system to produce antibodies which target and destroy remaining cancer cells.”
He added: “Although we are still in the early days of the trials, I am optimistic that the mRNA cancer vaccines will herald a new age for treating cancer in the future.”
To qualify for the vaccine, patients must have finished frontline treatment including chemotherapy and have a positive result from a test that searches for traces of cancer DNA in the blood.
A total of 30 hospitals have joined the vaccine launch pad so far, recruiting dozens of patients, with more expected to sign up in the coming months.