The cost of fighting cancer: behind the scenes of research to find a cure

In 2022, only 8% of clinical trials focused on pancreatic cancer, warns Financial Times (Illustrative Image Infobae)

In the tireless fight against cancer, advances in the treatment of diseases such as breast, lung and prostate cancer offer many patients new hope. However, for those facing a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer or other less common cancers, the outlook may not be so encouraging.

“Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. and that’s not it has changed in several decades. It is the cause of approximately 50,000 deaths in the United States each year, ranking third after lung and colon cancer,” said the renowned scientist. Eric Topoldirector of the Translational Research Institute, in California, United States.

Unlike other types of cancer where new therapies have made a significant difference, this type of tumor continues to be treated with a cocktail of drugs that dates back decades. This is how Dr. Anirban Maitraan oncologist who researches this disease at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas“Pancreatic cancer is the weak link in the fight against cancer,” he told The Financial Times.

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This lack of progress in treating one of the world’s deadliest cancers is not just a question of complex biology, but also of where resources are being directed in research and development.

In 2022, only 8% of clinical trials focused on pancreatic cancer (Illustrative Image Infobae)

According to an analysis presented by the Financial Times, almost half of the clinical trials started last year focused on breast, lung and blood cancers, while less than 8% were dedicated to investigating treatments for pancreatic cancer. disparity It is also reflected in funding: between 2016 and 2020, pancreatic cancer received just $317 in public and philanthropic funding per death globally, compared with nearly $3,600 for breast cancer, according to research published in The Lancet.

The reasons behind these differences are multiple. Partly, it is due to the inherently complex biology pancreatic cancer, as is also the case with colon or brain cancerwhich makes them more resistant to broad-spectrum treatments that have been effective in other types of oncological pathologies.

In 2019, global funding for cancer research through grants reached $13 billion in the United States, a figure that contrasts with the $83 billion that pharmaceutical companies invested in research, much of which was allocated to cancer clinical trials, according to data from the Congressional Budget Office.

However, more and more studies show promising results for patients undergoing treatment for the most lethal cancers, such as colorectal, pancreas and lung.

Modern medicine has deepened the idea of ​​tackling various diseases such as cancer and others under the slogan that any incipient malignant cell could be eliminated by the immune system (Europa Press)

This week, Infobae published an important advance in the fight against lung cancerwhich is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. A Phase I clinical trial has begun testing an mRNA vaccine, developed by BioNTechto treat this non-small cell disease.

This treatment seeks to stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells and prevent relapses. Although still in the early stages, the scientific community believes that this vaccine could represent a crucial advance in the treatment of lung cancer, with the potential to save many lives.

As Infobae pointed out, advances in cancer treatments are undergoing a revolutionary change thanks to the use of messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines. This approach is based on the ability to generate a personalized immune response in patients, directing the immune system to attack and eliminate cancer cells more effectively.

A prominent example of this advance is the development of an experimental mRNA vaccine to treat pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, a type of pancreatic cancer known for its high lethality, with survival rates below 10%. The first Phase I clinical trials have shown that this vaccine can induce a good immune responseachieving an expansion of T cells, essential in the fight against cancer, in 50% of treated patients.

These results are promisingespecially in combination with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, suggesting a potential to delay or even prevent disease relapse.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in a microscopic observation of pancreatic cancer (KEN ZARET)

The efficacy of mRNA vaccines in the treatment of cancer is based on the Personalization of treatmenttailoring the vaccine to the specific characteristics of each patient’s tumor. This approach has shown not only the ability to induce robust immune responses, but also to extend disease-free survival in patients, underscoring the transformative power of this technology.

Researchers and experts, such as the Nobel Prize in Medicine Katalin Kariko and Professor Ignacio Melerohighlight that the use of personalized mRNA vaccines, especially when combined with immunomodulation, is destined to dominate oncological treatments of the future, marking a new chapter in cancer medicine. Although the Current studies are preliminaryits results justify the expansion of research towards larger trials to consolidate its potential as a key therapeutic tool in the fight against this devastating disease.

Last May a patient in England was the first to receive a personalized vaccine against colon canceras part of a clinical trial carried out by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS). This pioneering treatment, developed by the biopharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Genentech, uses technology of mRNA to identify specific mutations in each patient’s tumor, allowing for the creation of an individualized vaccine.

The injection is intended to boost a patient’s immune system after surgery, helping it to recognise and attack any remaining cancer cells. The trial is being carried out in the UK at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital and, if successful, is expected to benefit thousands of people in the future.

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