Will we soon have a jab for prostate cancer? Experts unveil a vaccine that could provide a cure for the disease

Home / Cancer / Will we soon have a jab for prostate cancer? Experts unveil a vaccine that could provide a cure for the disease
May 17, 2017May 17, 2017
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  • Vaccine that treats the disease by stimulating the immune system is being tested
  • Jab stopped tumours from spreading for 77%  of cancer patients in the trial
  • And 45 per cent of patients in the clinical trial experienced tumour shrinkage 
  • Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers, affecting one in seven men

A vaccine that could stop prostate cancer in its tracks has been unveiled by scientists.

The vaccine treats the disease by stimulating the immune system to kill cancer cells.

The scientists found the jab stopped tumours from spreading for 77 per cent of cancer patients in a clinical trial.

And 45 per cent of patients experienced tumour shrinkage after receiving the vaccine, according to the new research.

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among males, affecting one in eight men in the UK and one in seven in the US.

A vaccine that could stop prostate cancer in its tracks has been unveiled by scientists (stock)

A vaccine that could stop prostate cancer in its tracks has been unveiled by scientists

WHAT IS PROSTATE CANCER?

Prostate cancer usually develops slowly and often produces no signs for many years.

The prostate is a small gland in the pelvis that is only in men. It helps to produce semen.

Symptoms tend to appear when the gland becomes so large that it affects the tube that carries urine to the penis.

This may cause an increased need to urinate, straining while urinating or feeling the bladder is not empty.

The risk increases with age and those with family members who have suffered.

‘At the end of the nine-month reporting period for the study, 17 patients had clinically stable disease,’ the scientists from the Norwegian Radium Hospital said in a research paper.

As part of the study, 22 men with prostate cancer were recruited to take part in a Phase I clinical trial.

Phase I trails are the first step in developing a new treatment and are undertaken to find out if drugs can cause cancers to shrink, according to Cancer Research UK.

The new vaccine works by stimulating the body’s own immune system to fight cancer, in a type of treatment known as immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy has offered promise for new treatments because it does not carry the harsh side effects of traditional therapies such as chemo and radiotherapy.

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among males, affecting one in eight men in the UK and one in seven in the US. Pictured is an illustration of the prostate (red)

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among males, affecting one in eight men in the UK and one in seven in the US. Pictured is an illustration of the prostate (red)

‘In the field of immunotherapy, prostate cancer has seen much promise and potential in changing the way this disease is treated and cured,’ Dr Sumit Subudhi from the University of Texas writes for the Cancer Research Institute.

‘Most current developing immunotherapies for prostate cancer are investigating the more targeted treatment of advanced stage disease.’

It is not yet known when the vaccine could be available to the public, but it typically takes 10 to 15 years for drugs to pass through all clinical trial phases.

The research was published in Cancer Immunology.