A recent New York Post article discussed a potentially groundbreaking vaccine that stands to change the way we combat pancreatic cancer. The vaccine uses the same mRNA technology used by BioNTech and Pfizer for their COVID shot. A trial conducted at the Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center in New York City showed that the vaccine could boost immune cells that target tumors to essentially train the immune system to kill pancreatic cancer cells.
The patients who participated in the study received shots of the vaccine after surgery to remove a tumor. Half of the patients experienced a T cell response, and remained cancer-free throughout the 18 month duration of the trial. Unfortunately, the other half of participants either passed away or had cancer return. The results were still encouraging, and the team is planning a larger randomized study to see how the vaccine will perform.
