They develop the first vaccine against ovarian cancer

The Oxford University, in United Kingdomis developing the first vaccine against ovarian cancer. Scientists are working with the goal of prevent the disease that kills almost 26,000 women in the European Union every year.

The vaccine, called OvarianVaxit would train the immune system to recognize and fight the early stages of the disease. It is one of the most common forms of cancer among women, often only being detected at a later stage when it is more difficult to treat.

The vaccine will be targeted at women with genetic mutations that may increase the risk of ovarian cancer. Some of them choose to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes, as a preventive measure, although it prevents them from having children.

What the developers of the ovarian cancer vaccine say

The director of OvarianVax projectoncologist and gynecologist, Dr. Ahmed Ahmed states that “teaching the immune system to recognize the early signs of cancer is a challenge.” However, he maintains that “We now have very sophisticated tools. that give us real information about how the immune system recognizes ovarian cancer.

Ahmed’s team will try determine how well the immune system recognizes different proteins on the surface of ovarian cancer cells. It will also perform laboratory tests to measure how well the vaccine can kill organoidssmall cancer models grown from tumor tissue taken from patients.

Research from the OvarianVax Project

If these tests are successful, researchers will move forward with clinical trials to test how the vaccine works in people. The project could lead to “crucial discoveries” in improving ovarian cancer survival, said in a statement Michelle Mitchellexecutive director of the nonprofit Cancer Research UK.

Cancer Research UK to fund OvarianVax research with up to 600,000 pounds sterling (719,960 euros). The entity warned that it could still take “many years” before vaccines are available to patients.

More cancer vaccines on the way

There are more vaccines, to prevent other forms of cancer, that could reach patients in the coming years. For March, the Oxford scientists announced work on the lung cancer vaccinewith technology similar to that of the development of the COVID-19 vaccine with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Meanwhile, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine could almost eliminate cervical cancer in the next generation. Since Scotland launched its HPV immunization campaign in 2008, there is no record of cases of cervical cancer among women fully vaccinated at age 12 or 13.

Vaccines could also come to treat people who already have cancer. He UK National Health Service (NHS) is conducting a clinical trial to test personalized vaccines that target specific mutations in thousands of cancer patients.

For this study, patients have their tumors removed before being vaccinated. Researchers hope it will trigger an immune response to recognize and destroy any remaining cancer cells..