Tech Used In Oxford Covid Vaccine Could Help Fight Cancer, Reveals Study

Today, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is surely a life-saver, protecting people from serious illness caused by the novel coronavirus. And now, this revolutionary vaccine could also help patients fight cancer.

Reuters

Also Read: US Questions Efficacy And Data Of Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Trials

This is according to an initial study (published in BMJ) in mice, carried out by the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in collaboration with Oxford University. The vaccine was found to help trigger the immune system to fight tumours.

To the uninitiated, the vaccine protects against COVID-19 with the help of an adenovirus vector -- essentially a chimpanzee virus -- that delivers a genetic code offering instructions for a protein on the virus.

The vaccine helps the body¡¯s cells to make that protein, training the immune system to recognise the virus and take it down before it spreads further.

Using the same technology, scientists thought it could help the body to make two proteins often found on tumours. The process would highlight these proteins to white blood cells that can kill cancer cells.

The two-dose cancer vaccine makes use of two different viruses to transport the genetic code it uses - first the chimpanzee virus used in the COVID-19 vaccine and the second, a modified vaccinia Ankara virus, which is essentially a weakened virus usually used as a smallpox vaccine.

Also Read: Previous COVID Infection Offers Better Immunity Than Oxford Vaccine, Says Study

The vaccine helps in enhancing a treatment dubbed anti-PD-1 immunotherapy that unlocks immune cells dubbed CD8+ T cells to destroy tumours.

This therapy doesn't work as well for everyone, as many do not possess the important T-cells, however, the vaccine actually helps in recruiting extra T cells. And this therapy has shown positive results.

Reuters

The mice study revealed an 82 percent greater reduction in tumour size after 36 days. A similar vaccine that was used on 23 men with advanced prostate cancer alongside immunotherapy revealed that the treatment is safe and considerably reduces the level of prostate cancer cells producing protein PSA.

Also Read: Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Is 100% Effective For Severe COVID-19 Cases, Says CEO

It helped boost the survival rate in mice at 36 percent compared to just 17 percent without the vaccine. The vaccine can work with a variety of tumour cells, enabling protection against different kinds of cancers including breast, bowel, bladder cancer, lung cancer and melanoma.

Professor Adrian Hill, of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, said in a statement, ¡°This new vaccine platform has the potential to revolutionise cancer treatment.¡±

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