Breast cancer vaccine could soon be a reality
Trials of a revolutionary vaccine for breast cancer and an injectable treatment for skin cancer are due to get underway in Australia in 2015.
The Melbourne-based biotech behind the drugs, Ascend, is preparing to list on the Australian stock market and plans to use money raised from investors to fund the trials.
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Both treatments being developed by Ascend are forms of immunotherapies, which aim to encourage the body’s immune system to fight and destroy cancer.
Ascend’s skin cancer treatment is designed to be injected into basal cell carcinomas, the most common form of the disease.
The drug is a genetically-modified form of a common cold virus that helps the immune system cut off the blood supply to the skin cancer and destroy it.
The breast cancer vaccine is for patients who are in the early stages of the disease and have undergone surgery.
Patients receive the vaccine after surgery to help their immune system stop the cancer returning and spreading.
Chief executive Dr Clement Leong says the skin cancer treatment could help thousands of patients avoid surgery.
Many patients, he says, cannot undergo surgery because of the tricky location of the skin cancers on their face, or because they are too old, or the operation could interfere with other medication they are on.
“This is a big opportunity. There’s about half a million people worldwide that are seeking a non-surgical form of treatment,” Dr Leong told AAP.
The breast cancer vaccine could also provide hope for the estimated one quarter of early stage breast cancer patients who see the disease return and spread within three years after undergoing surgery.
Dr Leong said earlier trials of the vaccine showed that 10 years after surgery, the cancer had returned in just six per cent of patients who had been vaccinated.
He said women with early stage breast cancer are currently treated with hormone therapy after surgery.
“The problem is that it only works for 10-12 months,” Dr Leong said.
“We think during that 10-12 months, when the cancer is being controlled, is a nice opportunity to vaccinate.”
Ascend is planning to launch its skin cancer clinical trial in February, with results expected in mid 2015.
The breast cancer trial is slated for late 2015.
It plans to pay for the trials by raising up to $11 million ahead of its stock market debut in November.
Ascend is issuing more than 31 million shares at 35 cents each.
The worldwide market for immunotherapies is estimated to be worth billions in the future, with cancer predicted to cause an estimated 13 million deaths by 2030.