UC Cancer Center doctors are studying whether vaccines can prevent lung cancer from coming back

WLWT highlighted a clinical trial from the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center that examined whether personalized mRNA vaccines are effective in reducing lung cancer recurrence.

“Cancer vaccines, vaccines to prevent cancer, were kind of the holy grail. Can we develop a vaccine to prevent cancer? “That’s not quite what’s important in this study,” says Dr. Jennifer Leddon, a physician, researcher and assistant professor at the Cancer Center at the UC College of Medicine, told WLWT. “It’s more about whether we can prevent cancer from coming back in someone who already has cancer. This is where personalized therapy comes into play. They make the vaccine from your cancer. They find out what vulnerabilities are present in your cancer and can be targeted.”

The vaccines are developed from a patient’s surgically removed tumor. In combination with immunotherapy, doctors want to train the body’s immune system to fight off remaining cancer cells.

“I could certainly imagine a scenario where they use the information from this study to identify common tumor antigens that are common across many patients,” Leddon said. “Not just your individual, but many patients. Based on this, develop a preventative vaccine.”

The study is open to patients seeking additional treatment options for lung cancer. Patients with stage II-II B (N2) localized lung cancer who are eligible for surgery may qualify. For more information, patients can call 513-585-UCCC.

Read or watch the WLWT story.

Read about a similar pancreatic cancer vaccine trial at the Cancer Center.

Top image: KRAS-controlled lung cancer cells. Created by Eric Snyder, 2015. Image courtesy of the National Institutes of Health.