New lung cancer vaccine shows promise
Key Takeaways
Germany’s BioNTech is trialing a new cancer vaccine called BNT116. It is an mRNA vaccine designed to treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
The vaccine is currently being evaluated alone and in combination with a monoclonal antibody medication in phase 2 trials. The trial will be conducted in seven countries and will establish safety profile and dosing.
Experts think the vaccine candidate is promising but much more information is needed.
A new cancer vaccine candidate—BNT116—could be a source of hope for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
BNT116 is designed not only to recognize and attack cancer cells, but also to decrease the risk of cancer recurrence.[] If successful, the vaccine could become a mainstay.
Vaccine development
Developed by BioNTech, BNT116 is currently being evaluated in phase 2 trials to establish a safety profile and safe dose.[] It is being evaluated alone and in combination with the monoclonal antibody medication cemiplimab.[]
According to BioNTech, BNT116 is an mRNA cancer vaccine designed to encode six shared lung cancer–associated antigens frequently expressed in NSCLC. The vaccine is based on BioNTech’s “FixVac” platform, which consists of “a fixed combination of mRNA-encoded non-mutated tumor antigens, which are known to frequently express within specific cancer types.”[]
The company says BNT116 works by “presenting the right set of antigens for each cancer indication to the immune system,” in order to “activate immune cells that recognize cancer-specific antigens and turn them against the cancer cells.”[]
News reports say that Racz received six injections—5 minutes apart—at University College London Hospital.[] Each shot contained different strands of RNA. He will get the vaccine at 3-week intervals the next 54 weeks.
The vaccine shows promise, but will it be a success?
Nathan Teich, MD, a thoracic oncologist at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, NJ, tells MDLinx that while the vaccine could change the lung cancer landscape, much more information is needed. “We will need to see the efficacy data regarding whether there is increased progression-free survival or overall survival with the addition of this vaccine to the standard of care,” he says.
He adds that the trial will also help provide an understanding of how lung cancer responds to certain treatments. “If this trial is successful, it would enhance the effectiveness of current treatments with chemoimmunotherapy […] in all non-small cell lung cancer patients who do not have a targetable mutation for treatment,” Dr. Teich says. “This may increase the survival of patients in both early and late-stage disease.” For now, he says, physicians will need to wait for safety data information about side effects.
Nilesh Vora, MD, a board-certified hematologist and medical oncologist and the medical director of the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Medical Center, agrees with Dr. Teich. “[The vaccine] is a great idea in theory, but it’s an early stage trial. We’ve seen vaccine trials before [and] they haven’t always panned out,” he says. “Before I start hyping this vaccine, I need to see data.”
Dr. Vora says that these sorts of vaccines are designed to stimulate the immune system to recognize—and attack—cancer, but vaccine trials like this can fail. "I don't think lung cancers are as simple as the theory of getting the immune system to attack the cells," he says. "Cancer cells are constantly mutating and changing."
Dr. Vora adds that it might be many years before we have clear data on the efficacy of BNT116—but that it’s something to be hopeful about.
What this means for you BioNTech is testing the efficacy, safety profile, and dosage of a new mRNA cancer vaccine for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The company is testing the vaccine with and without adjuvant monoclonal antibody medication cemiplimab. The vaccine is still in phase 2 trials, so it may be some time before it's widely available, but initial trial results show promise.