In February 2024 Imperial College London announced the beginning of a Phase I/II trial in patients at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to evaluate the safety and potential of an experimental mRNA therapy: mRNA-4359. The vaccine targets melanoma, lung cancer, and other ‘solid tumour’ cancers.
The Mobilize trial is a partnership between Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; the first UK patients are being dosed at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Imperial Clinical Research Facility at Hammersmith Hospital. It is sponsored by Moderna and aims to recruit a global cohort of patients over the coming years.
Early stages
Although the primary aim is to assess the safety and tolerability of the vaccine, either alone or in combination with pembrolizumab, the researchers are also exploring the possibility that the combination can “actively shrink” tumours. Dr David Pinato, Clinician Scientist at Imperial College London’s Department of Surgery & Cancer and Consultant Medical Oncologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is investigator of the UK arm of the trial. He commented that “despite huge advances in screening, detection, and care” an estimated “half of us will experience cancer in our lifetime”.
“New mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies, such as mRNA-4359, offer a new avenue for recruiting the patient’s own immune system to fight their cancer.”
Dr Pinato emphasised that the “research is still in the early stages” and could be “a number of years from being available to patients”. However, the trial “is laying crucial groundwork that is moving us closer to new therapies that are potentially less toxic and more precise”.
“We desperately need these to turn the tide against cancer.”
Reflecting that “we’re only able to do this kind of research thanks to our patient volunteers”, Dr Pinato thanked every patient who is taking part. This gratitude was echoed by a member of the clinical research delivery team at Hammersmith Hospital, Dr Nichola Awosika.
“It has been a great experience to contribute to the development of innovative new treatments like this and it all depends on the willingness of patients taking part, so we are grateful for their participation.”
Getting involved in research
Imperial quoted an 81-year-old patient with treatment-resistant malignant melanoma, the first person in the UK to receive the vaccine last year. The man, who remains anonymous, is “pleased to be offered a chance to take part in a new trial”.
“The options were either do nothing and wait or get involved and do something.”
The patient stated that “taking part in a trial gives you a sense that you’re contributing to something which can help a lot of other people”. While he recognised that there are also “personal reasons”, it’s a “mixture of those two”.
“I’m extremely grateful to the hospitals and the individuals that are running these trials. You know, somehow, we have to change the fact that one in every two people gets cancer at some point and we have to make the odds better.”
A brilliant example
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, described the NHS as “at the vanguard of trials of cancer vaccines”.
“This trial at Imperial is a brilliant example of the pioneering work happening at hospitals up and down the country, with teams of experts looking into ways of harnessing the body’s own immune system to treat a range of cancers.”
Professor Johnson knows how “worrying” a cancer diagnosis can be but considers “access to these groundbreaking trials” and “other innovations” a source of hope. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Victoria Atkins agreed that a cancer diagnosis can be “devastating”.
“This vaccine has the potential to save even more lives while revolutionising the way in which we treat this terrible disease with therapies that are more effective and less toxic on the system. It underlines our position as a life sciences superpower and our commitment to research and development.”
As her comments coincided with World Cancer Day, Atkins offered her “deepest gratitude” to the teams behind this “groundbreaking development” and the patients who were contributing to a trial that “could make such a difference to countless lives”.
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