Researchers in London are seeking to develop the world’s first vaccine to prevent lung cancer in people who are at high risk of the disease.
Scientists from the Francis Crick Institute, University College London and Oxford University have created the “LungVax” - a vaccine that activates the immune system to kill cancer cells and stop lung cancer.
The vaccine was created using technology similar to the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, Sky News reports.
The team has been granted up to £1.7million from Cancer Research UK and the CRIS Cancer Foundation to produce 3,000 doses of the vaccine.
The vaccine uses a strand of DNA which trains the immune system to identify any “red flag” proteins in lung cancer cells, known as neoantigens, and kill them.
Neoantigens appear on the surface of the cell because of mutations within the cell’s DNA.
There are around 48,500 cases of lung cancer in the UK every year according to Cancer Research UK. Roughly 72 per cent of cases are caused by smoking.
The LungVax provides a "really important step forward" into a future where cancer is more preventable, Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell said.
"The science that successfully steered the world out of the pandemic could soon be guiding us toward a future where people can live longer, better lives free from the fear of cancer," she said.
"We're in a golden age of research and this is one of many projects which we hope will transform lung cancer survival."
The vaccine will move into a clinical trial if it successfully shows that it triggers an immune response in a lab setting.
Positive results could lead to bigger trials for people at high risk of the disease, including smokers aged 55 to 74.
Professor Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, who will lead the trial, said: “Fewer than 10 per cent of people with lung cancer survive their disease for 10 years or more. That must change.
"This research complements existing efforts through lung health checks to detect lung cancer earlier in people who are at greatest risk."
She added that based on early predictions the vaccine has the potential to cover around 90 per cent of all lung cancers.
She said: "LungVax will not replace stopping smoking as the best way to reduce your risk of lung cancer."
The professor said the vaccine could offer a viable route to preventing some of the earliest-stage cancers from emerging.
