Development of personalised cancer treatments
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Identification of immunogenic neo-epitopes for the development of personalised pancreatic cancer vaccines
IRAS ID
203884
Contact name
Yaohe Wang
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 20 days
Research summary
Human pancreatic cancer has a very poor prognosis with an overall survival rate of less than 5%. Current treatment regimens are ineffective and even if the patient responds to initial treatments, relapse is common due to the survival of small populations of resistant cancer cells.
The immune system is capable of recognising and eliminating invading organisms by virtue of differences in their appearance when compared to normal components of the body. Cancer cells also have a different appearance compared to normal cells. However, these differences are often too small and weak to stimulate the immune system sufficiently to respond effectively to eliminate the tumour.
Our aim is to analyse the small differences between healthy and cancer cells in pancreatic cancer patients. Analysis of the genetic information from 100 pancreatic cancer patients has allowed us to design molecules that display each of these small differences. We now intend to analyse each of these, with respect to their ability to stimulate an immune response against cancer. We then intend to take all validated molecules and incorporate them into vaccines carried by viral vectors. These vaccines can be used to train the patient’s immune system to respond more effectively when it encounters these particular differences in the patient’s body and thus mount an efficient attack on the cancer cells specifically.
Surplus material from blood donations will be used to isolate individual components of the immune system, which can be examined for their response to these altered molecules in the laboratory. On completion of this project, we will have viral vaccine libraries that can be tested in future research projects. Ultimately, we hope to transfer this regime to the clinic by selecting an appropriate viral vaccine library to deliver as a personalised therapeutic that can eliminate cancer and prevent cancer recurrence within each patient.REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1512
Date of REC Opinion
12 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion