Health
Experimental vaccine for common cancer shows potential in clinical trial
A vaccine for pancreatic cancer could serve as a promising new therapy.
At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York, an experimental approach to treating the cancer with a messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutic vaccine “continues to show potential” in reducing the risk of the disease returning after surgery, according to a press release.
Results from the phase 1 clinical trial, published in the journal Nature, revealed that the vaccine triggered an immune response in a small patient group.
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This immune-cell activation persisted for nearly four years after treatment, the release stated.
Patients who received the vaccine and showed an immune system response were more likely to remain cancer-free by their three-year follow-up.
Results from the phase 1 clinical trial “continue to show potential,” MSK reported in a press release. (iStock)
Vinod Balachandran, MD, principal investigator of the trial and senior study author at MSK, stated his optimism about the efficacy of this treatment.
“We find that with RNA vaccine technology, we can teach the immune system to recognize pancreatic cancer, and this immune response could potentially last for many years,” he said.
“The ability to trigger a robust, long-lasting immune response is a requisite feature for any cancer vaccine.”
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As pancreatic cancer is “difficult to treat,” Balachandran shared his surprise that the immune system responded in some patients.
“We are encouraged to see that our approach can teach the immune system to recognize pancreatic cancer, that the immune response is potent and that it may potentially impact patients,” he said.
“The ability to trigger a robust, long-lasting immune response is a requisite feature for any cancer vaccine.”
“Although the findings are promising, these vaccines are still in the early stages of testing,” Balachandran said.
The team is planning a larger study “to further test these therapeutic cancer vaccines in patients with surgically removable pancreatic cancer.”
Therapeutic vaccines target early stages of cancer, where tumors can be surgically removed and haven’t spread. (iStock)
Of the 16 participants, the vaccine stimulated an immune response in half of them. The cancer vaccine was personalized for each participant to target specific proteins found in their form of the disease.
The patients also received an immunotherapy drug (atezolizumab) and standard-of-care chemotherapy after receiving surgery.
Therapeutic cancer vaccines like this one, referred to as autogene cevumeran, are meant to treat the cancer instead of preventing it, by training the immune system to “recognize cancer cells as foreign,” according to the researchers.
Patients who had an immune response to the vaccine were more likely to have reduced cancer risk by their three-year check-up. (iStock)
The vaccine is meant to target early stages of cancer that have not spread, where tumors can be surgically removed, to “help delay or prevent recurrence.”
Balachandran noted that this approach could potentially be applied to other forms of cancer as well.
“If you can do this in pancreatic cancer, theoretically you may be able to develop therapeutic vaccines for other cancer types.”
“For patients with pancreatic cancer, our latest results continue to support the approach of using personalized mRNA vaccines to target neoantigens in each patient’s tumor,” he said.
“If you can do this in pancreatic cancer, theoretically you may be able to develop therapeutic vaccines for other cancer types.”
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Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers, as only about 13% of patients are alive five years following diagnosis, according to MSK and the American Cancer Society.
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Common therapies like chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapies are “largely ineffective” against pancreatic cancer, MSK stated, which makes new therapies “urgently needed.”
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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