The Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe and the Provincial Hospital Consortium of Castellón have already administered the vaccine which is tested internationally against non-small cell lung cancerthat is to say the most common lung tumor and main cause of cancer mortality in the world. Centers all over Spain are participating in this research. And Pamplona is one of the cities where researchers are recruiting patients to test this. new lung cancer vaccine.
THE vaccine which is under study is the BNT116administered alone or in combination with another drug, cemiplimab. Its purpose is Find out if combining two types of immunotherapy is “safe” and “more effective” than the exclusive use of cemiplimab, which is the basis of current treatment, as reported by the Generalitat in a press release.
“The vaccine has a design comparable to that of the vaccines against covid-19that is to say, it contains six different RNAs against six tumor antigens“Thanks to part of the genetic material of a virus, instructions are introduced into the body to produce new immune responses against the tumor by the cells themselves and at the same time increase the existing ones,” explained La Fe oncologist and IIS La Fé researcher Oscar Juan.
ANDThe head of the medical oncology department of the Provincial Hospital of Castellón, Alfredo Sánchezadded that “in addition to the already known high probability of benefit for patients with high expression of a biomarker (PD-1), This trial administered the BNT116 vaccine, whose objective is increase the patient’s immune response. The combination of the vaccine with an anti-pdl1, in this case cemiplimab, may increase the response options and prolong survival in a subgroup of patients with advanced lung cancer“.
In summary, as Dr. Óscar Juan pointed out, “it is about strengthen the person’s own immune response against the tumor with the aim of eliminating tumor cells in a manner similar to what happens with infectious diseases, obtaining lasting responses and less toxicity by preserving healthy cells unlike chemotherapy.
A TOTAL OF 55 MEDICAL CENTERS
Research is encouraged by Regeneron pharmaceutical company with the collaboration of BioNTech and is being developed in 55 centers in Georgia, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, the United States and Spain.
In Spain he opened it Patient recruitment process in Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Pamplona and the Valencian Communitymore specifically, in La Fe and the IVO of Valencia, and in the Provincial Consortium of Hospitals of Castellón.
For participate in researchThe patient must meet “very specific” requirements set out in the clinical trial, but unlike other studies, this one explores the effectiveness of the treatment in different scenarios: from an advanced stage of the disease (when the cancer has spread outside the lung) to other earlier stages where the chances of cure are greater.
In all, It is planned to recruit around a hundred people worldwide. with this type of lung cancer; They will receive BNT116 by intravenous injection and cemiplimab, by intravenous infusion every three weeks.
NOVEMBER 2023
He first patient of La Fe was treated in November 2023, and several other patients have since received the vaccine. The investigation is expected to last until 2027.
For the director of the Valencia La Fe health department, José Luis Poveda, “the participation of La Fe in this promising test demonstrates the hospital’s commitment to research and development of new cancer treatments.
The director of the Provincial Hospital of Castellón, Matías Real, expresses the same view, stating that this research “gives patients access to More advanced treatment options in lung cancer“.
