New Vaccine Shows Promise Against Pancreatic Cancer

Early clinical and preclinical results are showing that an experimental mRNA and nanoparticle vaccine produced measurable immune responses against pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers, and that in small patient groups, those immune responses correlated with delayed recurrence or prolonged survival.

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) and collaborators ran a Phase I trial in February testing a personalized mRNA vaccine called autogene cevumeran (BNT122, RO7198457) in 16 patients with operable pancreatic cancer who received surgery, chemotherapy and the vaccine. The vaccine was developed and researched through a collaboration between BioNTech and Genentech. It is not a cure for the type of cancer itself; however, signs point to improving longevity in individuals who contract the disease.

Results of the study showed half of participants mounted vaccine-induced tumor-specific T-cell responses. Also, long-term efficacy was reported as patients with a vaccine-induced immune response had a reduced risk of cancer returning at three-year follow-up appointments compared with patients whose immune systems did not respond.

“The latest data from the Phase I trial are encouraging. They suggest this investigational therapeutic mRNA vaccine can mobilize anti-tumor T cells that may recognize pancreatic cancers as foreign, potentially years after vaccination,” said Vinod Balachandran, MD, a surgical oncologist at MSK, the principal investigator of the February 2025 trial and the director of the Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at the MSK Cancer Center. “For patients with pancreatic cancer, our latest results continue to support the approach of using personalized mRNA vaccines to target neoantigens in each patient’s tumor. If you can do this in pancreas cancer, theoretically you may be able to develop therapeutic vaccines for other cancer types.”