Scientists Launch the World’s First Trial of a Vaccine Designed to Prevent Lung Cancer

Researchers from University College London and the University of Oxford have announced the launch of the world’s first clinical trial of an experimental vaccine designed to prevent lung cancer in people at high risk, reports News Medical Live Sciences.

The first phase of the study will focus on determining the optimal vaccine dose and evaluating its safety. The trial is expected to begin in the summer of 2026, pending all regulatory approvals.

According to Professor Mariam Jamal-Hanjani of the UCL Cancer Institute, fewer than ten percent of people with lung cancer survive beyond ten years.

This situation must change, and one way to do so is by stopping the disease at its very earliest stages. She emphasizes that the “LungVax” trial will be the first major step toward offering a vaccine to those at the greatest risk.

During the study, researchers will closely monitor how the body responds to vaccination, how easy it is to administer, and who is likely to benefit the most. However, the professor stresses that a preventive vaccine will not replace quitting smoking — the main way to reduce risk — but its introduction could help prevent some cases of cancer before they even develop.

Lung cancer cells differ from normal cells in that they display specific “danger” proteins on their surface, caused by DNA mutations. These proteins are known as neoantigens and tumor-associated antigens, and they appear at the very earliest stages of the disease. The LungVax vaccine contains a set of genetic instructions that train the immune system to recognize these abnormal proteins on altered cells and destroy them before they develop into a full-scale tumor.

The technology used to deliver these instructions was developed at the University of Oxford during the COVID-19 pandemic and has now been adapted to target lung cancer.

Professor Sarah Blagden, co-founder of the LungVax project at the University of Oxford, notes that lung cancer remains one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with survival rates barely improving for decades. The new vaccine offers a chance to prevent the disease from developing in the first place. Years of research into the earliest cellular changes in lung cancer can now be tested in practice.

In the initial phase, scientists will study the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness in people who have recovered from early-stage lung cancer and are at risk of recurrence.

In addition, the vaccine will be tested in people undergoing lung cancer screening as part of England’s national program. If the results are promising, the trial will gradually expand to include people from broader high-risk groups.

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