Mr. Adrian Taylor (54 years old, living in Wallasey, Merseyside, England), at this time last year, had an incurable form of lung cancer, with a 100% chance of dying within a few months, according to the Daily Mail.
But now, thanks to the cancer vaccine trial, “that despair has turned to hope”. I’m not dying from cancer, I’m living with it and feeling great, Mr Taylor said.
The patient was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in December 2021. After months of chemotherapy and radiation, a CT scan in June 2022 showed that the head and neck tumors had disappeared, but a 9 mm tumor had appeared in the right lung. The cancer had metastasized and was considered "incurable."
This time chemotherapy and radiation were of no help because the cancer was too advanced, and further scans showed tumors scattered throughout the lungs that were inoperable.
One of the tumors grew from 9mm to 25mm in a matter of months, indicating it was a very aggressive form of cancer.
His last chance, his only hope, is to enroll in a trial of a new treatment.
Then, last September, he was given a lifeline – to participate in a cancer vaccine trial, a groundbreaking new treatment.
The trial at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool (UK) is for patients with head and neck carcinoma, given pembrolizumab - a new drug that helps the immune system attack cancer cells.
The first patients with “untreatable” forms of cancer treated with a new personalized mRNA vaccine have had very good results.
The hope is that the vaccine will stimulate new immune cells that will also kill cancer cells, boosting the immune response to the tumor.
He said: After being notified of eligibility, I got my first dose in November and then got it again every 3 weeks and had scans every 8 weeks.
A pre-test CT scan showed six tumors on the right lung, each measuring 25 mm and growing rapidly.
The doctor shook his head in disbelief!
In May 2023, when he saw the latest X-ray, the oncologist shook his head in disbelief and said: This is amazing. He showed me the X-ray before the test with a large gray cancerous mass in the lung, but now it is gone.
It was surreal. Scans last week showed that only a small portion of the cancer remained – the largest tumour had shrunk from 25mm to 4.6mm, according to the Daily Mail.
I feel like I've been reborn! I feel great again and optimistic about the future, said Adrian.
Patients will receive regular vaccinations while they are taking pembrolizumab - for 2 years.
The patient is one of the first in the UK to benefit from the cancer vaccine.
Pre-test film showed a large gray cancerous patch in the lung, but that is gone now.
Professor Christian Ottensmeier, consultant oncologist and director of clinical research at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, who treated Adrian, said: “In this case, it is remarkable that the vaccine worked so well and the cancer was so much smaller. The patient’s progress was beyond our expectations, and we are all delighted and cheering! Successes like this show that vaccines can turn things around.
Experts say the potential for creating a cancer vaccine is huge, with the potential to treat all types of cancer.
There are also trials of vaccines in the UK for prostate, colorectal and skin cancers. A trial for lung cancer is also about to start.
Source link
Comment (0)