Researchers at the University of Oxford have received funding from Cancer Research UK to develop OvarianVax, potentially the world’s first vaccine to prevent ovarian cancer. The team has been awarded up to £600,000 over the next three years to support laboratory research into the vaccine.
The vaccine aims to teach the immune system to recognize and attack the earliest stages of ovarian cancer. Professor Ahmed Ahmed, Director of the Ovarian Cancer Cell Laboratory at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and lead for the OvarianVax project, explained the need for this research: “We need better strategies to prevent ovarian cancer. Currently women with BRCA1/2 mutations, who are at very high risk, are offered surgery which prevents cancer but robs them of the chance to have children afterwards. At the same time, many other cases of ovarian cancer aren’t picked up until they are in a much later stage.”
Ovarian cancer affects approximately 7,500 new cases annually in the UK. Women with altered BRCA1 genes have up to 65% higher risk, and those with altered BRCA2 genes have up to 35% higher risk of ovarian cancer. The research will focus on identifying which proteins on early-stage ovarian cancer cells are most strongly recognized by the immune system. The team will test the vaccine’s effectiveness on mini-models of ovarian cancer called organoids.
The researchers will work with patient and public representatives to determine who could benefit most from the vaccine, how it could be administered, and how to ensure widespread uptake if future clinical trials are successful.
Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, commented on the project: “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 realize our ambitions to improve ovarian cancer survival.”
While it will take years for the vaccine to become widely available, this funding marks a significant step towards preventing ovarian cancer at an early stage, rather than treating it after diagnosis.
The OvarianVax project is part of Cancer Research UK’s prevention research strategy, which aims to use laboratory discoveries to find more precise ways to prevent cancer.
