Nature: Cancer vaccine shows promise for patients with stage III and IV kidney cancer

Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have reported impressive results from a clinical trial of a kidney cancer vaccine. The drug stopped the progression of the disease in 100% of cases. The study was published in the scientific journal Nature.

Nine people with stage III and IV clear cell kidney cancer who had undergone tumor removal participated in the first phase of the trial. They were injected with a personalized vaccine. At the end of the study, all patients were in stable remission after 34.7 months.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is one of the most aggressive forms of kidney cancer. Even after surgery and standard immunotherapy—such as pembrolizumab, two-thirds of patients relapse.

The new vaccine is designed based on molecular features—called neoantigens—of each patient’s tumor.

These neoantigens are fragments of mutant proteins that are only found in cancer cells. Using algorithms, the researchers select the most suitable neoantigens to include in the vaccine to “teach” the immune system to recognize and destroy the remnants of the cancer cells.

As studies have shown, after using the vaccine, a stable immune response was generated in all patients, and the T cells induced by the drug remained active in the body for up to three years.

They saw a rapid and sustained increase in the number of T cells that can attack cancer cells, and this opens up new possibilities for treating kidney cancer, said study co-author Dr. Patrick Ott.