Patients with advanced skin cancer will be fast-tracked into trials of a new cancer vaccine, following the expansion of an NHS programme.
The NHS has partnered with UK life-sciences company Scancell to widen access for patients at hospitals across England, with seven sites initially registered and the first patients expected to be referred in May.
The trial is the latest part of NHS England’s Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP), a world-first programme to fast-track eligible patients to studies developing vaccines against different cancers at their nearest participating hospital.
Currently there more than 350 patients being considered for a personalised bowel cancer vaccine under the CVLP.
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, accounting for around 4% of all new cancer cases – with analysis by Cancer Research UK showing cases had risen by a third between 2009-2019.
Around half of melanoma patients respond to standard care of immunotherapy, but people who don’t respond are at higher risk of their cancer progressing.
The new DNA vaccine, known as iSCIB1+ (Immunobody®), is not personalised to a patient’s tumour, but aims to improve the recognition of cancer cells by the immune system to boost response to immunotherapy.
It is being trialled by needle-free injection into the skin (intradermal) or muscle (intramuscular).
The phase II trial, known as SCOPE, is underway, co-ordinated by the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. It is aiming to recruit dozens of patients by October.
National Cancer Director, Professor Peter Johnson, said: ‘It’s incredibly exciting that the NHS is expanding its world-leading programme so more patients with different types of cancer could benefit from the development of new vaccines that could stop their cancer coming back.
‘We want to ensure as many eligible NHS patients as possible have access to these vital trials, which is why we are working with a range of industry partners as more studies get up and running to ensure patients are fast-tracked to a vaccine that could transform lives.’
To be eligible for the trial, advanced melanoma patients who haven’t yet received treatment will first need a blood test to determine their tissue type. This test looks at genes that control how the immune system works, which vary from person to person.
The expansion of this trail follows the decision to approve a new targeted treatment for breast cancer by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Data from February shows the faster diagnostic cancer standard was met with 80.2% of people being diagnosed or having a cancer ruled out within 28 days of an urgent referral, ahead of the 75% target.
Yet only 62% of people started their first treatment within two months, well short of the 85% standard which has not been met since 2015, Cancer Research UK pointed out.
