Scientists at Oxford University have developed the world’s first vaccine to combat ovarian cancer, potentially saving thousands of lives and one step forward to eradicating the disease. The new vaccine, named OvarianVax, trains the immune system of an individual to recognize and attack early-stage ovarian cancer cells.
At present, ovarian cancer claims the lives of some 4,100 UK citizens annually. Indeed, this number may potentially be much lower as a result of OvarianVax. For those affected by the BRCA gene mutation, the preventive removal of their ovaries has always been recommended. Some cancer charities consider the findings as a landmark and expect it to enable women with the potential genetic defect to forego extreme surgical interference.
This is closely followed by the reports that scientists from the Oxford University had been granted funds for a vaccine meant to avert lung cancer, giving an impression that the university is stepping up its efforts to combat the various cancers. According to the experts, OvarianVax is expected to be placed in the same class as the HPV vaccine, that stands a good chance of putting an end to cervical cancer forever.
The head of the Ovarian Cancer Cell Laboratory at the MRC Weatherall Institute, Professor Ahmed, said he could imagine it would be at least some years before it reaches the marketplace, while the first clinical trials could deliver benefits within four to five years in healthy participants. He underlined the fact that effectiveness has to be demonstrated during the trials.
Today, an estimated 7,500 new ovarian cancer diagnoses are found in the UK, and the mutations in BRCA account for 5 to 15 percent of these cases. Notably, Sir Ahmed pointed out that if this vaccine would work out, then such may create an outstanding impact on the BRCA mutation carriers as it would eradicate the need for preventive surgeries to be undertaken.
It is a major breakthrough in the prevention of cancer, with the study being funded by Cancer Research UK, which has been given a sum of up to £600,000 for the next three years. Dr. Claire Bromley from Cancer Research UK said, “The road for the vaccine may take longer to reach the masses, but this research will be pivotal to the prevention of cancer.”.
Echoing these comments, Ovarian Cancer Action’s head of research, Marie-Claire Platt, said that the vaccine might be the solution women at high risk could take to prevent developing it without any invasive surgery. Research in this area seeks to identify particular proteins on early-stage ovarian cancer cells that might become a target for the immune system and open it up for further clinical trials across different populations. As a matter of fact, Professor Ahmed is positive that the vaccine will eventually reduce the incidence of ovarian cancer considerably.
