Designing next-generation cancer vaccines: boosting immune power against bowel cancer  

 

Cancer vaccines are a rapidly emerging tool to treat cancer. These take advantage of the unique changes that happen to our cells when they become cancer, directing our immune systems to swarm and destroy them.  

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Right now, scientists are testing whether some new bowel cancer vaccines could help treat the disease in clinical trials. But these vaccines are tailor-made for each patient, so it would be a huge stretch on our health services to develop these complex and costly treatments for everyone who needs one. This means some people may not be able to access them. 

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Backed by the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK, Professors Andrew Godkin and Awen Gallimore are pioneering the development of a more cost-effective vaccine to treat bowel cancer in as many people as possible. 

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The Cardiff-based duo have identified bowel cancer antigens – tell-tale proteins displayed on the surface of cancer cells – that are found in many people with the disease. Now, they’re expertly engineering these antigens in the lab to make them appear more threatening to the immune system, priming it to launch a powerful attack against bowel cancer cells. 

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This research is a vital step towards an accessible, off-the-shelf bowel cancer vaccine that’s available to everyone who needs it. And the vision doesn’t stop there. Professors Godkin and Gallimore hope their vaccine will one day not only treat bowel cancer but prevent it in people at high risk, giving even more people more time with their loved ones.  

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If the vaccine is a success, the ripples could be felt beyond bowel cancer. The technology behind this vaccine could inspire the next generation of cancer vaccines to treat other forms of the disease and save even more lives.