An mRNA vaccine against pancreatic cancer has demonstrated long-lasting effects
This was announced at the 2026 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, with details of the study released by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
The vaccine in question is the experimental therapeutic vaccine autogen cevumeran, which is being developed by BioNTech and Genentech. It is being tested for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma – this form accounts for the majority of pancreatic cancer cases and is considered one of the most difficult to treat. Even after surgery, the risk of recurrence can be as high as 80%.
The researchers published the first results of this study back in 2023. At that time, the personalised vaccine, combined with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, elicited a robust immune response in half of the 16 patients who took part in the trial. Eighteen months after treatment, none of these patients had experienced a recurrence following surgery.
Now, researchers have presented the results of a longer-term follow-up. It turned out that seven out of eight patients whose bodies responded to the vaccine were still alive four to six years after the final dose. By comparison, the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is around 13%.
The trial’s lead researcher, oncologist Vinod Balachandran of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, stated that confidence is growing within the medical community regarding the potential to combat this type of cancer more effectively by activating the patient’s own immune system. At the same time, he emphasised that larger-scale studies are needed to confirm the results.
Why this matters
Previously, pancreatic cancer was considered a poor target for immunotherapy, as it responds poorly to immune checkpoint inhibitors – drugs that have already proven effective in other types of cancer. One reason is that pancreatic tumours have relatively few neoantigens – unique markers that allow the immune system to recognise cancer cells as a threat. In most patients, these signals do not trigger naturally, so the body does not mount an adequate immune response.
To get round this problem, the researchers used mRNA vaccine technology, which became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic. The principle involves introducing a fragment of genetic code that gives cells ‘instructions’ to produce a protein that activates the immune system. As part of the trial, scientists sequenced the tumour genome of each patient and created a personalised vaccine containing information about the neoantigens specific to that tumour. Thanks to this, the body ‘learned’ to recognise cancer cells and fight them, reducing the risk of recurrence. Unlike conventional vaccines used to prevent infections, this therapy is administered after cancer has developed – to prevent its return following primary treatment.
What next
Despite the encouraging results, researchers emphasise that the first phase of the trial involved only 16 people, and in most participants, the cancer was detected at a relatively early stage, which is atypical for this disease. That is why the current findings cannot yet be considered definitive.
The second phase of the clinical trial began in 2023. Around 260 patients were enrolled, and the study is expected to be completed by 2031.
In a broader context, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most dangerous forms of cancer. Over the past 30 years, the number of cases worldwide, as noted in the article, has more than doubled – from approximately 196,000 in 1990 to over 510,000 in 2022. It is currently the sixth most common cause of cancer-related deaths globally. Doctors are also recording an increase in cases among people under the age of 50, although the reasons for this trend have not yet been definitively established.
As reported by ThePublic, scientists have created a vaccine that ‘awakens’ the immune system to fight cancer.
Follow us on Telegram
