New treatments for pancreatic cancer are urgently needed. One of the deadliest forms of the disease, even with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, just 12% of patients are alive five years after diagnosis.
Yet, results from a small study published recently suggest that bespoke messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines that prime a patient's immune system to fight their cancer might be an effective future option.
Half the patients showed a strong immune response to vaccination, and their tumours haven’t reappeared after a median follow-up period of 18 months.
Dr Vinod Balachandran, a surgical oncologist based at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York heads the lab that ran the study.
Dr. Vinod Balachandran Photo: Ethan Kavet
