‘Extremely Promising’: New Vaccine Could Prevent Recurrence Of Deadly Colon, Pancreatic Cancer

A new experimental vaccine has been developed that appears to be successful in preventing recurrences of the deadly colorectal and pancreatic cancers.

A study led by the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, tested the ELI-002 2P vaccine on 25 patients previously treated for pancreatic and colorectal cancers.

The vaccine could “help prevent or delay cancer recurrence in high-risk patients whose tumors are driven by KRAS mutations, which are responsible for half of colorectal cancers and more than 90 percent of pancreatic cancers, researchers noted,” The Hill reported.

The patients were tested a year after the vaccine had been administered, and the average relapse-free survival times were significantly greater than historical norms.

Oncologist Dr. Thomas Marron told NewsNation the results are “extremely promising. Pancreatic cancer and colon cancer are really terrible cancers, and oftentimes even if patients can have curative-intense surgery, unfortunately this cancer tends to come back as microscopic bits of the cancer have already spread. This vaccine is really about teaching patients’ immune system how to recognize and attack those tiny amounts of cancers so that they keep them from coming back, increasing the likelihood that we can cure patients with surgery and chemotherapy or radiation.”