A recent Clatterbridge Cancer Centre article discussed a pioneering clinical trial for a cancer vaccine. It was administered to a UK man at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in hopes of stopping the recurrence of his head and neck cancer. The vaccine consisted of a therapy custom-tailored to the patient’s DNA and designed to enhance his own immune system to keep cancer away permanently. The patient’s head and neck cancer first arrived in 2011, and returned four times, requiring taxing treatment, facial surgery, reconstruction and radiotherapy.
The treatment was manufactured in France by Transgene, a biotechnology company focused on the design and development of therapeutic vaccines and oncolytic viruses that fight cancer. The patient will receive a year-long course of immunotherapy injections that will hopefully keep him cancer-free indefinitely.
