Pancreatic cancer vaccine, tested in the UK

He began testing a vaccine to treat pancreatic cancer, type of cancer with the lowest survival rate.

More than 1,000 patients suffering from pancreatic cancer, joined the project to test the vaccine TeloVac of 53 hospitals in the UK.
Vaccines are typically associated with preventing infection, but it is part of a new approach to try to stimulate the immune system in fighting cancer. The process involves regular doses of vaccine in combination with chemotherapy, comparing the results with those obtained intermdiul chemotherapy alone.
The vaccine contains small sections of a protein, telomerase, which is produced in large amounts by cancer cells. The aim is to stimulate the immune system recognize cancer cells telomerase from the surface and thus to target tumors.
Professor John Neoptolemos, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, said: "The problem is that tumors are intelligent, able to transform into guardians of tumor immune cells. Vaccine removes the masking effect of the tumor.
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all common forms of cancer. Only three of ten patients survive the disease for five years or more.
Rhona Longworth, aged 43 years, diagnosed with this form of cancer in February, said: "For someone who never drank and never smoked niciodaa was a big shock. I hope the vaccine to work."
TeloVac Testing is funded by Cancer Research UK. It supports testing against several cancers, using vaccines or treatments for stimulating the immune system antibodies.
Professor Peter Johnson, chief clinician of Cancer Research UK, said: "One of the biggest problems in treating cancer is that malignant cells almost always remain some of which cause cancer may return. If you can program the immune system to recognize these cells and remove them completely or keep them under control, then we can effectively stop the development of cancer throughout life. "
South Korean maker of the vaccine, KAEL - GemVax, is planning an experimental formulation of a vaccine for lung cancer later this year, based on the same technology.
Last year, the first therapeutic cancer vaccine has been licensed in the United States as a treatment for prostate cancer.
Stage III or TeloVac final phase should produce results over a year, indicating whether or not the vaccine has a positive effect.

Cancer Research UK wishes to stress that the vaccine is not a cure, but if it works, could prolong life.