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The world’s first vaccine to prevent ovarian cancer has been developed in the UK, with the potential to save thousands of lives and ultimately eradicate the disease, researchers claim.
Scientists at the University of Oxford are developing OvarianVax, a vaccine that teaches the immune system to recognize and attack early stages of ovarian cancer.
It is hoped that the jab can be administered prophylactically to women on the NHS, with the aim of eradicating the disease, which kills around 4,100 women in the UK each year.
Cancer charities have hailed the research as potentially saving thousands of lives and saving women with BRCA mutations from having to have their ovaries removed.
The news comes after it was announced earlier this year that scientists at the University of Oxford had secured funding to develop a vaccine that could prevent lung cancer.
Experts liken OvarianVax’s potential impact to that of the HPV vaccine, which is moving toward eliminating cervical cancer.
Professor Ahmed Ahmed, director of the Ovarian Cancer Cell Laboratory at the MRC Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford, said he expected patients in clinical trials to benefit within four to five years, but said that it would take “a lot of work”. “It will take years,” he added. for vaccines to become widely available.
Professor Ahmed said that while a “serious timeline” for a vaccine being approved “could be many years away”, “the impact if successful is expected to be much faster”.
Professor Ahmed Ahmed from the University of Oxford is leading the OvarianVax trial (Cancer Research/PA Wire)
“We hope to start seeing the effects of the vaccine on healthy people within four to five years” through clinical trials, he said.
Around 7,500 new cases of ovarian cancer occur in the UK each year, and BRCA mutations account for around 5-15 per cent of these cases.
Women with BRCA mutations, such as actress Angelina Jolie, are known to be at increased risk, and women with this gene are currently recommended to have their ovaries removed.
Professor Ahmed said people with BRCA mutations could benefit greatly from the new vaccine as they would “no longer need to have their ovaries removed”.
Cancer Research UK is funding the research and will provide up to £600,000 over the next three years.
Dr Clare Bromley, research information manager at Cancer Research UK, said it would be “many years” before a vaccine was readily available to the general public, but this research was a key step towards preventing cancer. He told The Independent that it shows progress.
Dr Bromley said: “Decades ago, the idea of cancer vaccines was like science fiction. You’ve probably seen therapeutic vaccines that are starting to make their way into clinics. Now, there are more preventive cancer vaccines. They are starting to appear, and some are being developed for lung cancer.
“Many of these vaccines build on technology built during the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated efforts.
“We’re moving into an area where cancer as a disease could become much more preventable…It’s much more realistic.”
Marie-Claire Platt, head of research at the charity Ovarian Cancer Action, said: “Every year more than 1,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer that should have been prevented. Since then, we’ve learned that some women are at much higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. This study finally gives these women the chance to reduce their risk without life-changing surgery. may be provided.
“Over the past 10 years, Ovarian Cancer Action has funded research led by Professor Ahmed to understand where and how ovarian cancer develops. This project aims to translate these findings into vaccines. could save thousands of lives.”
Professor Ahmed and his team are identifying the cellular targets for the vaccine. Researchers are wondering which proteins on the surface of early-stage ovarian cancer cells are most strongly recognized by the immune system, and how effectively vaccines kill ovarian cancer minimodels in the lab. We plan to establish a
The drug will then move to clinical trials in people with the BRCA mutation, which significantly increases the risk of ovarian cancer, and in healthy women in general to see if it can prevent the disease.
Professor Ahmed said if the jab was successful, it would start showing effects within the next five years.
Asked whether a new vaccine could eradicate ovarian cancer, she said: “Of course that would be the goal. We still have a long way to go, but it’s a really exciting time. I’m very optimistic myself.”
Scientists hope their vaccine will train the immune system to recognize more than 100 proteins known as tumor-associated antigens on the surface of ovarian cancer cells. Once the vaccine is created in the lab, it is then tested on people with the disease.
Next steps will include women with BRCA mutations and a broader population of women without known disease to see if the vaccine is suitable for both of these groups in preventing ovarian cancer. .
