Update March 2025. The UK government announced their intention to abolish NHS England and bring it back under the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) (i.e. a merger). The change programme will take up to 2 years. In the meantime, the blog will be updated with new nomenclature when further information is known and announcements are made.
Update February 2025. There was a flurry of activity on my site from USA members as a similar vaccine trial made headline news. This too was an mRNA vaccine from a trial for Pancreatic Cancer. The news report also said that mRNA technology is currently being explored for melanoma and colorectal cancer and other solid tumors.
Original Blog
Cancer Vaccines in the news. The UK newspapers are all publishing stories today 31st May 2024, about the new cancer vaccine trials following the first treatment of a patient with bowel cancer using the NHS’s Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad Project. I have published that announcement below but first I wanted to give you a primer about what this news is about (and what it isn’t about).
1. First and foremost, this is not a new approved treatment, it’s a clinical trial.
2. This is not designed to be a first line treatment, it’s something that mops up cancer cells after standard treatment relevant to the particular cancer, i.e. it’s adjuvant treatment.
3. Colorectal, skin, lung, bladder, pancreatic and kidney cancer, are some forms of the disease the scheme is focusing on. Other types of cancer could be added in the future. It’s not yet clear whether Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) (Neuroendocrine Tumours and Neuroendocrine Carcinomas) are included in any of the spearhead trials. Neither is it clear if NENs are included anatomically e.g. a Pancreatic NET within the Pancreatic Cancer trial. I will update this blog when I know more.
4. Trials have already enlisted dozens of patients, although the majority of participants are expected to be enrolled from 2026 onwards.
5. Due to the simple fact that the NHS is a country wide provider of healthcare, it is capable of deploying access to these trials for large numbers of patients. The collaboration between NHS and developer BioNTech, aims to provide up to 10,000 patients with personalised cancer treatments in the UK by 2030. Thousands of patients are expected to be recruited in the next year. That’s a huge number of participants when you look at the average participation in clinical trials.
6. There have been other vaccine trials happening in UK in the past few years but they may not be part of this country wide initiative with development partner BioNTech. This blog is focused on the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad
NHS announced treatment of its first patient in England with a personalised vaccine against their bowel cancer, in a clinical trial part of NHS England’s new Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.
As part of the platform, thousands of cancer patients in England are set to gain fast-tracked access to trials of personalised cancer vaccines following the launch of a world-leading NHS trial ‘matchmaking’ service to help find new life-saving treatments. The vaccines being tested as part of the trials aim to help patients with different types of cancer and, if successfully developed, researched and approved, cancer vaccines could become part of standard care.
“It’s incredibly exciting that patients in England are beginning to access personalised cancer vaccines for bowel cancer,” said Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK. “This technology pioneers the use of mRNA-based vaccines to sensitise people’s immune system and in turn detect and target cancer at its earliest stages. “Clinical trials like this are vital in helping more people live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer. If successful, the vaccine will be a game changer in preventing the onset or return of bowel cancer.”
Elliot Pfebve, 55, received the developmental jab at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, one of several sites taking part in the colorectal cancer vaccine trial sponsored by BioNTech SE. Elliot had no cancer symptoms and was diagnosed through a routine health check with his GP. Following blood tests, he was immediately invited to Manor Hospital in Walsall and triaged to a hospital ward to receive blood transfusions. A CT scan and a colonoscopy confirmed he had colon cancer and Eliott had surgery to remove the tumour and 30 cm of his large intestine. He was then referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham for initial rounds of chemotherapy and to take part in a clinical trial.
“Taking part in this trial tallies with my profession as a lecturer, and as a community-centred person,” he said. “I want to impact other people’s lives positively and help them realise their potential. “Through the potential of this trial, if it is successful, it may help thousands, if not millions of people, so they can have hope, and may not experience all I have gone through. I hope this will help other people.”
Personalised mRNA cancer vaccines are a form of immunotherapy treatment, which are currently being tested in clinical trials. They are tailored to each person’s cancer and work by training the immune system to recognise, destroy and prevent the spread of cancer cells. The reason they are called vaccines is because they teach the immune system to fight cancer, in the same way that vaccines teach the immune system to protect itself from viruses and bacteria. These personalised cancer vaccines are not designed to prevent cancer from developing in the first place.
The vaccine trial Elliot’s taking part in is one of several that will be taking place across the country to treat different types of cancer.
19 hospitals in England are already signed up to the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, one of the biggest projects of its kind in the world, with more sites joining the platform over the coming months.
Some trials have already enlisted patients, although the majority of participants are expected to be enrolled from 2026 onwards.
The scheme aims to expand and work with a range of partners in the pharmaceutical industry to include patients across many cancer types who could potentially join a vaccine trial, such as those with pancreatic and lung cancer.
“Seeing Elliot receive his first treatment as part of the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad is a landmark moment for patients and the health service as we seek to develop better and more effective ways to stop this disease,” said Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive.
“Thanks to advances in care and treatment, cancer survival is at an all-time high in this country, but these vaccine trials could one day offer us a way of vaccinating people against their own cancer to help save more lives.
“The NHS is in a unique position to deliver this kind of world-leading research at size and scale, and as more of these trials get up and running at hospitals across the country, our national match-making service will ensure as many eligible patients as possible get the opportunity to access them.”
The NHS is working in partnership with Genomics England on the launch pad, with work already helping patients access the latest testing technologies and ensures they are given more targeted precision treatments for their cancer.
One of my local hospitals has early involvement in this initiative – read more click here.
I wrote about this one funded by the NET Research Foundation. Read more by clicking here or on the graphic below. A second more limited trial can also be found within this article.
1. Thousands of patients to access trials of personalised cancer vaccines (cancerresearchuk.org)
2. Cancer vaccines – where are we? – Cancer Research UK – Cancer News
3. NHS England » NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad
4. Clinical Trial Documentation – to follow.
I am not a doctor or any form of medical professional, practitioner or counsellor. None of the information on my website, or linked to my website(s), or conveyed by me on any social media or presentation, should be interpreted as medical advice given or advised by me.
Neither should any post or comment made by a follower or member of my private group be assumed to be medical advice, even if that person is a healthcare professional. Some content may be generated by AI which can sometimes be misinterpreted. Please check any references attached.
Please also note that mention of a clinical service, trial/study or therapy does not constitute an endorsement of that service, trial/study or therapy by Ronny Allan, the information is provided for education and awareness purposes and/or related to Ronny Allan’s own patient experience. This element of the disclaimer includes any complementary medicine, non-prescription over the counter drugs and supplements such as vitamins and minerals.
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