Published on 29 June 2021
Researchers in Liverpool have begun recruiting patients to a ‘first-in-human’ clinical trial of personalised ‘vaccines’ that aim to reduce the risk of head and neck cancers – which include mouth, throat, tongue and sinus cancers – from recurring.
A team of cancer researchers from Liverpool Head & Neck Centre, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Liverpool University Hospitals and the University of Liverpool are trialling new vaccines – tailored to each individual patient’s cancer – to see if it reduces the risk of head and neck cancer returning.
The Transgene trial will involve around 30 people who have just completed treatment for advanced, but still operable, HPV-negative squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).
Chief Investigator for the UK trial, Professor Christian Ottensmeier, pictured below, who is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and Professor of Immuno-Oncology at the University of Liverpool, said: “This is an early-phase trial but, if successful, this approach could be a potentially game-changing development in the treatment of advanced head and neck cancers.
"We have spent the last 15 years working on the science behind this immunotherapy so it is very gratifying to begin clinical trials with the first patients."
Read a news story about the clinical trial here.
This Transgene video explains how the vaccines will be created: https://player.vimeo.com/video/481154673?loop=1
