bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

A cancer patient in Britain has become the first person in Europe to sign up to a groundbreaking clinical trial for a new pancreatic cancer vaccine.
Pancreatic cancer, which killed Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011, is the 12th most common cancer globally – and among the most deadly. Experts said the launch of the European arm of the trial means that “hope is on the horizon”.
Pancreatic Cancer UK said that the potential of the vaccine “cannot be understated” and it could become a “vital new weapon” against the disease.
The patient, who has not been named, was enrolled in the trial at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the English city of Birmingham.

The vaccine is an individualised treatment, with jabs tailored to each patient. It works by training the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells.
Researchers hope that this could reduce the risk of cancer returning once the main tumour has been removed by surgery.
The jab, known as BNT122 and developed by BioNTech and Genentech, uses the same vaccine technology as the mRNA Covid vaccines but, in this case, each jab is customised.
The trial will recruit patients who have had surgery to remove pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma – an extremely aggressive disease that accounts for 90 per cent of all pancreatic cancers.
After surgery, samples of the patients’ tumour tissue and blood are sent to laboratories, where scientists can design and manufacture the vaccine.
People enrolled in the trial will either receive the jab alongside chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone after surgery – allowing researchers to compare the vaccine against the current standard treatment.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said that patients will receive several doses of the investigational cancer vaccine intravenously over a period of time.
Commenting on the news, Dr Chris Macdonald, head of research at charity Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: “For too long, we have had so few treatment options for people with pancreatic cancer.
“Surgery is currently the only potential cure and yet, tragically, in 75 per cent of cases the cancer reoccurs within a year. Finally, there is hope on the horizon. We will be following the results with great interest, as the potential here cannot be understated.
“If this research proves successful, the vaccine could be a vital new weapon against the deadliest common cancer.”
According to the charity, pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival of all common cancers, with five-year survival less than seven per cent.

Around 10,000 people are diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK. Globally, there were more than 510,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer in 2022; China had 118,672 of them.
The news comes as Cancer Research UK announced that a new study had been launched to pinpoint the very moment the immune system recognises a tumour.
It is hoped that identifying this point will help doctors one day be able to stop the spread of disease earlier than previously possible.
The charity has awarded a £1.5 million (US$1.97 million) grant to the University of Cambridge, to be given over the next six years, to investigate how the immune system evolves, targets and kills cancer cells as tumours are developing.
Finding the trigger point of when the body starts to recognise cancerous cells could one day lead to cancer being found earlier – when it is easier to treat – and improvements to treatments which harness the body’s immune system to kill cancer cells.

Study lead Dr Heather Machado, from the University of Cambridge’s department of pathology, said: “This research has the potential to give an entirely new perspective on the role of the immune system in cancer progression, findings that we hope to use to further improve life-saving cancer immunotherapies.
“Most cancers are diagnosed years or decades after early tumour development, which can often be too late.
“Our methods will allow us to go back in the cancer’s timeline to understand the immune response in these early stages of cancer development.
“Beyond improving immunotherapies, we hope that this understanding helps us detect cancer earlier, at stages where survival rates are much higher.
“It is really exciting because we are using cutting-edge technology that is only available now and we are going to be able to discover how the immune system responds to tumours unlike we have ever seen before and that is potentially life-changing in terms of improving immunotherapies for better health and patient prognosis.”
Like what you read? Follow SCMP Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter here.


How trail runners should fuel their bodies for success, and to avoid health problems

The psychology of chronic pain: why exercise and mindfulness – not just rest and medication – can be vital treatments, too

Experts hail new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy as a game-changer, the ‘first of its kind’

Celebrating organ donation that changed Italy, parents return 30 years after son’s death

Wellness

Pancreatic cancer vaccine trial offers hope of lowering deaths from deadly form of disease

Surgery is the only treatment for pancreatic cancer, and yet in 75  per cent of cases the cancer, one of the deadliest, recurs within a year. A new vaccine in trial offers hope of preventing that. Photo: Shutterstock

Dr Chris Macdonald, head of research at charity Pancreatic Cancer UK, says the new vaccine offers hope to sufferers. Photo: Pancreatic Cancer UK

Pancreatic cancer is among the mostly deadly forms of cancer. Photo: Shutterstock

Dr Heather Machado is from the University of Cambridge’s department of pathology. Photo: University of Cambridge

Patients in the vaccine trial will receive several doses of the investigational pancreatic cancer vaccine intravenously over a period of time. Photo: Shutterstock 

How to deal with a cancer diagnosis: focus on treatment options, stay positive, doctor says; survivor advises asking questions and letting emotions out

Chang Hsiu-yun, a Pilates instructor at the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, at one of the fund’s support centres in Kwai Chung. The cancer survivor and a doctor give their advice on how to deal with a cancer diagnosis. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Chang exercises at a Hong Kong Cancer Fund support centre, in Kwai Chung. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Dr Ho Lap-yin is a urologist and a medical adviser for the Hong Kong Cancer Fund. Photo: Dr Ho Lap-yin

Early-onset cancers rising, survival rates too: how 2 young Hong Kong women beat cancer

Angie Yan celebrating her 25th birthday in Hong Kong, a year after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. While early-onset cancers are on the rise, survival rates for young patients are also high. Photo: Angie Yan

Yan, an accomplished trail runner, takes part in the Mount Fuji 100 event in Japan in April. Photo: The North Face

Yan takes part in the Mount Fuji 100 race, in which she came third. Photo: The North Face

Yan with her mother at Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre in Hong Kong. Photo: Angie Yan

Phoenix Ng is a social worker and case manager of the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society’s Jockey Club Cancer Survivorship Care Project. Photo: Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society 

Ng recommends cancer patients acknowledge their emotions and learn to express their feelings – such as through art therapy. Photo: Shutterstock

Ozempic, other weight-loss drugs help with heart attack, stroke, fertility. Dementia next?

Many of the new weight-loss drugs can by extension alleviate other health conditions. Photo: Shutterstock

Ozempic and similar new weight-loss drugs also lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney and liver disease, and some increase fertility. The mechanism they use to target parts of the body could be applied to dementia treatment, researchers hope. Photo: Shutterstock                                                       

With more than a billion obese people on the planet, Clemmensen says at least 10 effective drugs that work in different ways are needed. Photo: Shutterstock

There have been reports of a so-called Ozempic baby boom after many women who were overweight and believed to be infertile became pregnant after losing weight with the help of new weight-loss drugs. Photo: Shutterstock 

Christoffer Clemmensen, of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen, says weight-loss drugs introduced recently are not perfect. Photo: Christoffer Clemmensen

Christoffer Clemmensen’s team is researching how they might use the same GLP-1 receptor found in new weight-loss drugs to “smuggle” a drug into mice brains that targets neurons responsible for appetite control. Photo: Shutterstock

How eating added sugar speeds up biological ageing and makes skin look older

Eating foods with added sugar accelerates biological ageing, a new study finds. Photo: Shutterstock

A new study found eating foods with added sugar accelerates biological ageing, even when following an otherwise healthy diet, while a dietician explains how eating sugar makes skin look older. Photo: Shutterstock

After cutting down on sugar, Neelam Daswani lost weight and enjoyed better skin. Photo: Neelam Daswani

Eating too much processed sugar triggers changes in our cells that directly contribute to ageing and ageing-related diseases. Photo: Shutterstock

Karen Chong is a dietitian at Matilda International Hospital in Hong Kong. Photo: Matilda International Hospital

The natural sugar found in fresh fruit is fine, Chong says. Photo: Shutterstock

Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

Health

Pancreatic cancer, which killed Apple’s Steve Jobs in 2011, is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Clinical trials of a vaccine have begun


Pancreatic cancer, which killed Apple’s Steve Jobs in 2011, is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Clinical trials of a vaccine have begun.


Cancer

Medicine

Queen Elizabeth Hospital