New Vaccine Shows Promise Against One of the Deadliest Cancers

Early clinical and preclinical results are showing that experimental mRNA and nanoparticle vaccines produced measurable immune responses against pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers, and that in small patient groups those immune responses correlated with delayed recurrence or prolonged survival.

Pancreatic cancer has among the lowest survival rates of common cancers and limited effective treatments. Multiple small trials and preclinical studies published and reported in the past year indicated that novel vaccine platforms, including personalized mRNA vaccines and layered lipid nanoparticles, were able to induce tumor‑targeting T cells in patients and animal models, prompting researchers to plan larger trials...