Earlier this month the trust was selected to support the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) platform delivered locally by Consultant Medical Oncologist, Dr Aspasia Soultati and her team (pictured).
The cancer vaccine pad aims to speed up access to messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) personalised cancer vaccine clinical trials for people who have been diagnosed with cancer, which will play a crucial part in the increased development of cancer vaccines as a treatment for many different types of cancers. At the end of May, 55 year-old father-of-four Elliot Phebve received the developmental jab at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, one of several sites taking part in the colorectal cancer vaccine trial.
Dr James Wilkinson (pictured), Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Clinical Research Lead commented “I am absolutely thrilled that we have managed to open this study and thank Dr Soultati and her team for their support in delivering the study so far. It is a very exciting time at the trust as we continue to grow the clinical research opportunities for our patients.”
Realising the potential of personalised vaccines in cancer treatment and transforming patient care in the future is a significant step in immunotherapy treatments. CVLP was initially in collaboration with pharmaceutical company BioNTech and the launch pad aims to provide up to 10,000 patients with personalised cancer treatments in the UK by 2030.
The treatment is tailored to each person’s cancer, working by training the immune system to recognise, destroy and prevent the spread of cancer cells. They work the same way as any other vaccines, by teaching the immune system to protect itself from viruses and bacteria.
Dr Simon Merrit, Chief Medical Officer said ‘we are very excited to do be part of this ground breaking research project that has the potential to revolutionise cancer care in the future.’