ORgreat news for cancer prevention, precisely in the days preceding the month of October, dedicated to it. Fromimmunotherapy are being tested around the world over 40 mRNA vaccines. The first in phase III as early as 2024. The experts meeting in Milan these days are talking about it CICON23International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference. Over a thousand clinicians, researchers, representatives of associations and biotech from all continents. Here is the most interesting and encouraging information that is emerging from international research.
Tumors: new vaccines, new therapies and Artificial Intelligence
In addition to the mRNA anti-cancer vaccinesthe researchers present at al CICON23 will illustrate the mechanisms that the tumor uses to escape to the control of the immune system and the strategies capable of rendering the new more effective therapies for an ever-increasing number of patients.
Also in the lineup new technologies who could make use of‘Artificial intelligence and the most recent results obtained with the immune checkpoint inhibitors and with i engineered lymphocytes.
Immunotherapy, an effective approach against tumors
The new frontiers ofcancer immunotherapythat therapeutic approach that exploits the immune system to fight and eliminate tumor cells. Among the over 40 speakers there will also be Nobel Prize winner Jim Allison and more than 600 works by scientists from 38 nations will take stock of the most important results obtained in the clinic and in the laboratory.
«The objective of CICON23 is to create a single moment of discussion, comparison and sharing on immunotherapy in oncology which then becomes a constant reference for scientists, doctors, researchers, companies and patient associations». They are the words of Pier Francesco Ferrucci, director of the Tumor Biotherapy Unit at the European Institute of Oncology and president of the Italian Network for Tumor Biotherapy (NIBIT), one of the scientific societies organizing the event. «A place to network and develop research in immunology and immunotherapy, encouraging the transfer of results into clinical practice».
Vaccines against cancer in a few years
After almost 20 years of studies and research, i mRNA vaccines they start giving relevant results as anti-cancer therapy, so much so that it is estimated that in a few years they will be ready to enter the clinic. «They are vaccines that they exploit the same technology adopted for Covid. That is, they make use of messenger RNA (mRNA), a sort of ‘postman’ that transmits important information to the cells”, explains Professor Ferrucci.
Phase III at the beginning of 2024: what it means
«We can hypothesize a date that is linked to phase 3 trial, which for one of these vaccines will begin at the beginning of 2024. If the results are confirmed when this phase ends, at that point the acceptance procedure of regulatory bodies such as the American FDA, the European EMA and the Italian AIFA should be quite rapid. So let’s consider at least another 3 years, minimum», explains Pier Francesco Ferrucci to the Press Agency Adnkronos.
Personalized mRNA vaccines for each patient
“For the anti-cancer vaccines are used Synthetic mRNAs designed to ‘train’ the immune system to recognize one protein call ‘neoantigen’, expression of a genetic mutation that occurred in the diseased cell. A kind of specific and personal ‘fingerprint’ present in the tumor cells from that patient.
Personalized mRNA cancer vaccines are therefore designed ‘custom’ with the aim of triggering the immune system to selectively and exclusively kill tumor cells in that patient and in patients whose tumors express the same mutation”, specifies the expert.
What are mRNA vaccines
As he explains L‘Mario Negri Pharmacological Research Institute, “MRNA vaccines are vaccines containing messenger RNA (mRNA) which carries within it the instructions to produce a certain product viral protein.
In the case of SARS-CoV-2 the protein is Spike. Once inside the body’s cells, the mRNA causes the viral protein to be produced by them, acting as a mold. There viral protein will then be released into the bloodwhere it will be recognized as foreign by the immune system, which will consequently produce specific antibodies capable of attacking the entire virus, if necessary.
These antibodies persist only temporarily in the blood (between 4 and 6 months). But our body remembers how to defend itself from subsequent SARS-CoV-2 infections, thanks to immune cells called memory cells.”
Which tumors can benefit from mRNA vaccines
They are currently underway further 40 clinical trials on mRNA-based vaccines in various tumor pathologies, as the melanoma, The prostate cancerThe non-small cell lung cancerThe triple negative breast cancerThe colorectal cancer And other solid tumors. «The list of experiments is obviously destined to increase exponentially», reassures Ferrucci.
From Melanoma, to colorectal and pancreatic cancer
The results are very encouraging mRNA vaccine against melanomadeveloped by Modernwhose trial should enter Phase III, the last before final approval, by next year. The data two years after the administration of this vaccine shows a reduced risk of relapse or death by 44% in those who received it in combination with “traditional” immunotherapy.
He will also participate in CICON23 Özlem Türeci, co-founder of biopharmaceutical company BioNTechwhich has been studying mRNA vaccines against tumors for decades and, thanks to the experience gained with vaccines against COVID, have designed even more effective mRNA vaccines against tumors such as melanoma, colorectal and pancreatic cancer.
Immunotherapy, not just vaccines
«The objectives of CICON23 are multiple: to understand the mechanisms that the tumor uses to escape the control of the immune system, to identify strategies capable of making new therapies more effective in as many patients as possible and to identify the best time for their administration», explains Paola Nistico head of the Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Unit at the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute and member of the NIBIT board.
“Finally, we will discuss the most recent results obtained with immune checkpoint inhibitors and engineered lymphocytes to arm the immune system against tumors,” he adds. Anna Mondino, responsible for the Lymphocyte Activation Unit at the IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, also a member of the NIBIT Board.
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