The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has reported successful phase 1 results for the preventive mKRAS-VAX vaccine in people at high inherited risk of pancreatic cancer. The drug targets the most common KRAS gene mutations, which are found in about 90% of cases of this disease.
Pancreatic cancer is considered one of the most difficult cancers to treat. It is usually detected only at advanced stages, when modern medicine has limited options. Now, the idea of preventing the disease before a tumor even appears has received its first clinical confirmation.
The study involved 20 people with inherited predisposition and already identified changes in the pancreas. After four injections of the vaccine, 18 participants developed a strong immune response, and specific T cells remained present for up to two years. Over 16 months, none of the volunteers developed cancer or changes requiring surgery. In eight people, previously detected lesions partially or completely disappeared.
The drug showed a good safety profile: all side effects were mild or moderate. The researchers stress that it is still too early to talk about preventing cancer — the first phase of the trial only confirms the vaccine’s safety and its ability to trigger an immune response. However, if further trials confirm the approach’s effectiveness, people with inherited risk may gain the ability not only to monitor possible disease development, but also to reduce the likelihood that it will occur.
