As of: February 20, 2024, 10:49 a.m
By: Natalie Hull-Deichsel
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Every year around 500,000 people in Germany develop cancer - only around half of them can be cured.
Research is focusing on new treatment options.
There could be a new and promising therapeutic approach in the fight against cancer in the future.
Results from phase I and II studies by the Mainz-based pharmaceutical company
BioNTech
show that a combination of existing immunotherapy with CAR-T cells and a not yet approved mRNA vaccine can stop tumor growth in patients.
This combination therapy could represent a future-oriented therapeutic approach for already sick patients, including younger age groups, with various types of cancer such as lung cancer, ovarian cancer and testicular cancer, through which tumors and carcinomas can shrink.
Even if there is talk of a vaccine in this context, the treatment cannot fundamentally protect against cancer, but the therapy could possibly prevent a new disease.
Therapeutic, not preventive therapy: Why people still talk about vaccination
For treatment, patients are vaccinated with a small section of mRNA (messenger that transmits genetic information for the construction of a specific protein in a cell) of a protein typical of cancer.
Protein segments found in cancer cells in particular are selected in order to achieve a strong immune response.
The principle of immunotherapeutic vaccines with mRNA is
to train the immune system to the corresponding structures and thus the tumor cells - also for the future.
The immune system remembers the degenerated protein and can fight cells equipped with it again in the future.
The mRNA does not remain in the body but is broken down.
Source: Federal Ministry of Education and Research – National Decade against Cancer project group
The basis of cancer treatment with the vaccine is CAR T-cell therapy
According to a study, a new cancer therapy with a vaccine inhibits the growth of tumor cells.
(Symbolic image) © ingimage/Imago
This approach was actually demonstrated in the study with 44 test subjects.
The combination therapy was administered to 38 study participants with malignant tumors.
In 13 patients, the growth of the tumor cells was stopped in 95 percent of the cases, and in 59 percent of the test subjects the tumor even became smaller.
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The basis of the mRNA vaccine is initially CAR T cell therapy, which is intended to reactivate the body's own defense system to fight tumors.
Here, white blood cells are taken from the sick patient's blood, modified, and given back to the patient.
And these cells can then attack the tumor very specifically.
But the cells could live better and longer.
And they could find this tumor better.
And that's where this mRNA vaccine comes into play.
Prof. Klaus Stöhr, virologist, in conversation with “welt.de” about combination therapy with CAR-T cells and mRNA
Better cancer therapy possible: mRNA vaccination can increase the functionality of CAR T cells
The mRNA vaccination should now be able to increase the functionality of the CAR-T cells and thereby increase the response rate in several different types of tumors such as ovarian cancer, testicular cancer, uterine cancer, stomach cancer and colon cancer.
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The mRNA vaccines help to find certain proteins on cell surfaces.
And this occurs in a relatively large proportion of cancers.
It can benefit a wide range of cancer patients with a wide range of different cancer types.
This is a very interesting combination.
Prof. Klaus Stöhr, virologist, in conversation with “welt.de” about combination therapy with CAR-T cells and mRNA
It will take more years of research with phase III trials before the mRNA vaccine can be approved for the treatment of cancer and available to patients.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Our editorial team is not allowed to answer individual questions about medical conditions.