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Clinical trials have started worldwide, to test the mRNA-based vaccine for lung cancer, which relies on the exact same technology that is used in the creation of the COVID-19 vaccinations. Lung cancer is a substantial health challenge around the world and the number one cause of cancer-associated deaths.  

The majority of patients are diagnosed when lung cancer is in its advanced stages and has already had a chance to spread. Even with surgery and early diagnosis, the rate of recurrence is still high.

The success of mRNA vaccinations during the pandemic opened up the door to the creation of similar vaccinations for this disease. The new approach has the goal of destroying tumor cells by mobilizing a person’s immune system against lung cancer, and then targeting all malignant cells without having to harm healthy tissue, and generating antibodies against cancerous cells.

What it means to vaccinate against lung cancer

Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is a new technology harnessing the immune system. A messenger RNA molecule carries directions for generating a specific protein and is injected inside a person’s body just like a vaccine. The messenger RNA enters cells and then directs them to generate a protein representing either a patient’s specific tumor or one associated with lung cancer. A person’s immune system then recognizes this protein, reacts by destroying cancer cells, and creates antibodies specifically against them.

 Cancer is a complicated disease that spreads and grows by evading a person’s immune system, effectively "hiding" from it. This vaccine uncovers those hidden cancerous cells, enabling an individual’s immune system to recognize and kill them.

These are the three main kinds of messenger RNA vaccines being created:

• Proteins targeting each person’s specific tumor
• Proteins enhancing a person’s immune response against lung cancer
• Proteins expressing a characteristic that is unique to this type of cancer

How the method works

Scientists isolate cancerous cells from a person’s body, sequence the DNA, and then identify the one-of–a-kind proteins of the tumor. Using a computational model, scientists are able to predict what neoantigens will probably trigger a strong immune reaction in each person without having to cause their immune system to destroy healthy cells. Once they are identified, the vaccination directs the body’s cells to generate these proteins, specifically "teaching" the patient’s immune system to destroy and detect cancerous cells that have concealed themselves.

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