Cancer vaccine human trials start, could kill tumours all over body with one jab

Scientists are closer to developing cancer vaccine that blasts tumours all over the body. A team at Stanford University claims that just one injection into one tumour will attack all other tumours that may have spread.

Now, human trials of the wonder drug, which actives the immune system to fight the cancer, are about to begin.

After eliminating spread of cancer in mice, the two lead authors are now recruiting lymphoma patients to try the shot.

Since the drug's application is so localised, the researchers insist it is cost-effective and unlikely to cause adverse side effects often seen in other kinds of immune simulation.

Speaking about it, Ronald Levy, MD, lead author and professor of oncology, said the vaccine uses two agents.

He went on to add that when the two agents were used together they saw the elimination of tumours all over the body.

He further added that the approach bypassed the need to identify tumour-specific immune targets.

According to Dr Levy, whose lab developed Rituximab, a widely-used form of chemotherapy, the shot could work for many different types of cancer.

While some approaches stimulate the entire immune system, others target certain areas to block the cancer from straying, and others (like the newly-approved CAR T-cell therapy) removed immune cells from the body to genetically-engineer them.