Chorley mum with ovarian cancer first in North West to get new vaccine trialled at the Christie

Video Report by Granada Report's Tim Scott

A new vaccine which could offer a lifeline to the many thousands of people living with cancer in the UK is being tested for the first time in the North West.

Susan Sanders, 63, is one of the first patients in the UK - and the first in the region - to get the jab after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

The mother-of-two, from Chorley, is part of the clinical trial for the jab, which is called OVM-200, Oxford Vacmedix's lead cancer vaccine.

The drug is currently being tested on people living with ovarian, prostate and the most common form of lung cancer and it's hoped it will combat several different types of solid-tissue tumours.

It works by attacking a protein that cancer cells emit to protect them from the body's immune system.

Susan says she feels hopeful. Since 2013, she has had several cancer treatments, some work for a short while - but then stop working.

While it has been never-ending for Susan, she says she has a "duty and responsibility to do the trial for people in the future."

So far, the jab is a long way from being commissioned by the NHS - but could one day be used.

The Phase I trial of OVM-200 is focused on safety and on establishing an immune response in patients.

It is being run at five sites in the UK, including the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, involving 35 patients.

Dr Shisong Jiang, Chief Scientific Officer and Founder of Oxford Vacmedix said: "We see the potential benefits of a vaccination approach both in stimulating the body's immune system to attack the cancer and also, in future trials, enhancing the efficacy of other immune-oncology agents.

"This Phase I trial is a first step towards having effective cancer vaccines."

Professor Tobias Arkenau, Principal Investigator at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK, added: "I strongly believe that vaccine treatments will play a major role in future cancer treatments."

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