Scientists at Oxford have started developing the world's first ovarian cancer vaccine, which they hope could soon eradicate the cancer once and for all.
As Sky News reports, the vaccine candidate is not unlike the vaccine for HPV (human papillomavirus), which has made major strides in cutting down the number of infections.
It's being developed to imbue the immune system with the ability to recognize and attack early-stage ovarian cancer cells.
The team behind the shot was just awarded a $785,000 grant by Cancer Research UK. But until it can be widely distributed, a lot of work remains to be done. The researchers still haven't announced when human clinical trials will kick off. Before it has a chance of being approved, the vaccine will have to go through several rounds of trials, a process that could take years.
For now, the plan is to focus on women with one of two specific genetic mutations known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, which have been linked to a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer. As team lead and University of Oxford professor Ahmed Ahmed told Forbes, women with these mutations can opt for surgery as a preemptive strike against cancer, but it's a surgery that comes with a major caveat: It deprives the women who opt for the surgery of the ability to have children — thus putting women in the incredibly unenviable position of having to make an incredibly difficult choice. A vaccine, on the other hand, would not.
Thus: In order to create the vaccine, the team is working on identifying genetic mutations the immune system could target with the help of the vaccine.
"Teaching the immune system to recognize the very early signs of cancer is a tough challenge," Ahmed told Forbes. "But we now have highly sophisticated tools which give us real insights into how the immune system recognizes ovarian cancer."
"OvarianVax could offer the solution to prevent cancer, firstly in women at high risk but also more widely if trials prove successful," he added.
Ahmed and his colleagues are hopeful the vaccine could allow women to retain their ability to have children while also allowing their bodies to effectively fight the disease.
"We still have a long way to go but it is a really exciting time," Ahmed told Sky News.
More on cancer vaccines: Thousands of Patients to Be Given World's First Cancer Vaccine
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