A vaccine could one day protect men from developing prostate cancer, thanks to a breakthrough by UK scientists.
As The Daily Mail reports, experts have designed a vaccine that boosts the immune system’s ability to track down and kill prostate cancer cells as soon as they start to appear in the body.
The research is at a very early stage, but scientists from Queen’s University Belfast believe in time their findings could be used to vaccinate young men against getting prostate cancer later in life.
It could also be used as a treatment for men who do have prostate cancer, because it would enable the body to kill off any tumours that have already grown.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate deaths through earlier diagnosis and better treatments.
Last month official figures revealed prostate cancer has become a bigger killer than breast cancer for the first time – with prostate treatments estimated to be 20 years behind those for beats cancer.
More than 11,800 men are now killed by the disease in Britain every year, compared with 11,400 women dying of breast cancer.
The new system uses RNA – a genetic messenger – which teaches the immune system to recognise prostate cells and hunt them down.
The Queen’s researchers have shown it works in the lab and are now embarking on a three-year trial on mice, after which they hope to test their vaccine in humans for the first time.
Scientists have been testing RNA vaccines for prostate cancer for some years, but have been struggling to work out how to deliver the vaccines to the immune system.
Part of the problem is that if RNA is simply injected into the blood stream it dissipates throughout the body and is quickly broken down before it reaches the cells of the immune system.
The Belfast researchers believe they have now overcome this hurdle by inventing a new delivery mechanism.
They combined the RNA with a peptide – a tough string of sugars – which means the vaccine can survive unharmed inside the body.
But instead of injecting it into the blood stream, where it is washed throughout the body, it is inserted into the outer layers of the skin using a half-inch square plaster of tiny dissolvable microneedles.
Writing in the Journal of Controlled Release, the scientists said the skin represents an ‘ideal target’ because it is rich in cells and avoids being cleared away by the body’s metabolism.
The plaster is placed on the skin and 361 microneedles pierce the ‘stratum corneum’ – the outermost layer of the skin – before dissolving.
The peptide is then released and burrows into the nucleus of immune cells, delivering the RNA right into the heart of the immune system, where it teaches the cells how to track down prostate cancer.
Project leader Professor Helen McCarthy: ‘What is particularly exciting about this is that we are doing it by understanding the barriers for delivery of messenger RNA.
‘That will mean it is much more effective and will have a much greater therapeutic response.
‘The first time I saw this work I didn’t believe it. And I went back and repeated the experiment again.’
She said: ‘I believe that the delivery technology in this research project could be used to make the vaccine that is the go-to for those wanting to prevent prostate cancer and those wanting to treat prostate cancer.
‘This new vaccine has tremendous potential – we’ve already seen that it can trigger an immune response and we’ve developed a reliable way for it to reach the immune cells.
‘We now need to pull all the pieces of the puzzle together.
‘This is an incredibly exciting time for prostate cancer research and we’re proud to be part of a movement which could bring about real change for men within our lifetimes.’
Dr Iain Frame of Prostate Cancer UK, which is funding the research, said: ‘The need for research into prostate cancer is greater than ever. With an ever-increasing ageing population, the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer is growing at a tremendous rate. In fact, the disease is on target to become the most common cancer overall by 2030.
‘However, pioneering research like this from Professor McCarthy has the potential to change the game.
‘Although there are still a number of hurdles to clear, if the researchers can prove that this vaccine can reverse prostate cancer cell growth, we’re not only looking at a potential new treatment but also a possible solution which could prevent prostate cancer from developing in the first place.’
