World’s first vaccine for ovarian cancer could eliminate the disease, say scientists

The world’s first vaccine for ovarian cancer could wipe out the deadly disease, British researchers say.

Scientists at the University of Oxford are creating OvarianVax, a vaccine which teaches the immune system to recognise and attack ovarian cancer at its earliest stages.

The hope is that the jab could be given to women preventatively on the NHS with the aim to eliminate the disease.

​Experts say it could work in a similar way to the human papillomavirus (HPV) jab, which is on track to stamp out cervical cancer.

Professor Ahmed Ahmed and his team at Oxford University are identifying cellular targets for the vaccine.

They are identifying which proteins on the surface of early-stage ovarian cancer cells are most strongly recognised by the immune system.

Also, they see testing how effectively the vaccine kills mini-models of ovarian cancer in the lab.

The next step will be human trials, focusing on people with BRCA gene mutations, which massively increase the risk of ovarian cancer.

Plus, there will be trials on healthy women to see if the disease can be prevented.

Prof Ahmed said that if the jab is successful he expects to start seeing an impact within the next five years.

Cancer Research UK is funding the study with up to £600,000 over the next three years.

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Prof Ahmed said: “The idea is, if you give the vaccine, these tiny tumours will hopefully either reduce, shrink really significantly, or disappear. That would give us the sign that the vaccine is working.”

“Now, the obvious population who would benefit from this are the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, because they have a very high chance of getting ovarian cancer.

“If you give it to those patients and it’s effective, then you get the best health economics and the best cost-effectiveness.

“The question then becomes – would it really benefit the general population? … Could you offer it to everyone?”

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “Projects like OvarianVax are a really important step forward into an exciting future, where cancer is much more preventable.

“This funding will power crucial discoveries in the lab which will realise our ambitions to improve ovarian cancer survival.

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