Called Tedopi, this new treatment significantly improves patient survival. But be careful of the announcement effects! This vaccine only concerns some lung cancers. It must still undergo a trial before considering a marketing authorization, which, if all goes well, should occur in 2027.
Interview with Professor Benjamin Besse, medical oncologist at Gustave-Roussy and supervisor of this clinical trial.
Le Point: What are the benefits of this new therapeutic vaccine?
Are all lung cancers affected?
No. These are metastatic lung cancers, that is to say advanced cancers. Furthermore, the vaccine is administered after chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Only patients who respond well to immunotherapy will also benefit. Finally, the vaccine is only effective in people with a so-called HLA A2-positive immune system, which represents approximately 45% of the population. In total, around 100,000 people per year worldwide could benefit.
What does the vaccine contain?
It brings together nine protein fragments that represent five proteins very frequently expressed by tumor cells. This covers almost all lung cancers. By injecting these nine fragments, the goal is to educate the patient’s immune system, that is, to teach them to recognize cancer cells so that they can be destroyed.
Are there any side effects?
They are limited to a flu syndrome and pain at the injection site. There are therefore no serious side effects unlike chemotherapy which can cause hair loss, a reduction in white blood cells – which increases the risk of infection – and neuropathy of the limbs – that is to say tingling in the feet and hands – but also nausea, vomiting, nail abnormalities, etc. Moreover, we were able to see that patients who were vaccinated had a better response to subsequent treatments, such as chemotherapy. Probably because they had fewer side effects with the vaccine. They were in better shape and therefore responded better to a new line of treatment.
If all goes well, it could receive marketing authorization in 2027. This takes a little time, because we will repeat the tests to confirm our results. We had to interrupt the clinical trial midway because of the Covid vaccination, which risked producing enormous bias. While awaiting marketing, it is still possible to have compassionate access for patients who are not included in the clinical trial, but whose situation corresponds to the criteria used for this treatment: people with cancer of the advanced lung, with an HLA A2 type positive immune system and having already received chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Are other vaccines being developed to treat more patients and types of cancer?
Several companies are currently developing other comparable therapeutic vaccines or those using RNA, in particular to cover the case of patients with an HLA A2 negative immune system. We have also completed a trial on pancreatic cancer, the results of which will be revealed next year. Two other trials are underway on lung and ovarian cancer. We must therefore expect healthy competition around these new therapeutic vaccines in the field of oncology over the next five years.