Home / Health / Merseyside Woman Enters New Lung Cancer Vaccine Trial
Merseyside Woman Enters New Lung Cancer Vaccine Trial
30 Jul
Summary
- First patient globally receives novel personalized lung cancer vaccine.
- Vaccine uses patient's own tumor DNA to boost immunotherapy effectiveness.
- Trial at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre aims to help over half of patients.

A pioneering clinical trial is underway at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool, marking a significant advancement in lung cancer treatment. Chris Jones, a 68-year-old from Merseyside, has become the first patient globally to receive a new vaccine designed to enhance immunotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
This innovative vaccine is personalized, utilizing cells from the patient's own tumor to engineer a synthetic DNA. Researchers believe this approach will significantly boost the effectiveness of immunotherapy, which currently faces resistance in about half of treated patients. The trial aims to help the immune system better recognize and fight tumors that have evaded detection.
This early-stage trial, involving only 10 participants over 24 weeks, is a collaborative effort involving multiple organizations. Scientists engineered the vaccine using "doggybone" synthetic DNA, which is faster and cheaper to produce, making tailored vaccines more feasible for the NHS. Results of Chris Jones's treatment will be evaluated in six weeks.