World-first lung cancer vaccine trials launched across seven countries

Janusz Racz receives the UK trial’s first injection of BioNTech’s mRNA cancer immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer at University College London hospital. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Doctors have begun trialling the world’s first mRNA lung cancer vaccine in patients, as experts hailed its “groundbreaking” potential to save thousands of lives.

Lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer death, accounting for about 1.8m deaths every year. Survival rates in those with advanced forms of the disease, where tumours have spread, are particularly poor.