The BioNTech company, which collaborated with Pfizer for the creation of the anti-Covid Comirnaty® vaccine, is working on the development of an RNA vaccine for cancer patients “before 2030”. Decryption with Palma Rocchi, Research Director at Inserm.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) was discovered by the general public with the Covid epidemic. Capable of countering the penetration of the Sars-Cov-2 virus into the body, it could also prevent the proliferation of cancerous tumors. The German company BioNTech, co-creator of the Comirnaty® Covid vaccine with Pfizer, launched on June 18, 2021 phase II of its clinical trial for the treatment of melanoma by RNA. Others relate to the bowel cancer. In an interview for the BBC the 16th October 2022them professors Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci who co-founded the German company BioNTech mentioned the development of such a cancer vaccine “before 2030”. “We believe that a cure for cancer, or at least a life-changing cancer patient, is right up our alley,” clarified the couple while being cautious. “As scientists, we are always hesitant to say that we will have a cure for cancer. We have a number of breakthroughs and we will continue to work on them.” How can RNA stop tumor growth? What Side effects possible? And on what cancer can it work? Explanations with Palma Rocchi, Research Director at Inserm.
Le Journal des Femmes: There is more and more talk of an RNA vaccine against cancer, is this really new?
Palma Rocchi: It is in the field of the fight against cancer that we have the greatest experience with mRNA vaccines. People have been working on messenger RNA vaccination for cancer for about 20 years, but the technology has come to light with Covid, which will encourage governments and Big Pharma to invest in the technology. It’s being given to people right now in a clinical trial, but there’s no no Marketing Authorization yet (MA). This represents an important hope for anti-cancer treatments because it is a particularly interesting technology to advance the management of this disease.
Le Journal des Femmes: Is it really a “vaccine” against cancer?
Palma Rocchi: The objective is to design cancer immunotherapy wherein the messenger RNA is the drug. These vaccines are for therapeutic purposes and not prophylactic because they are not intended to prevent but to treat.
“These vaccines are not intended to prevent but to cure”
We talk more immunotherapy than vaccination itself. In general, it is associated with conventional treatments such as radiotherapythe chemotherapy when the patient is detected with cancer either for activate the treatment and prevent the cancer from proliferating either for prevent relapse. It is not a vaccine in the preventive sense. Vaccinating the entire population without knowing the susceptibility and vaccinating against all cancers seems utopian. Vaccination is more for prophylactic purposes in an epidemic disease like Covid because we will treat the population to protect it from infection knowing that everyone has the same probability of contracting it. In the case of cancer, not everyone has the same probability.
Le Journal des Femmes: How does RNA work against cancer cells?
Palma Rocchi: The mRNA encodes tumor-associated antigenic proteins that are released into the blood or onto the surface of cells. L’goal is to boost your immune system (cytotoxic T lymphocytes) in order to slow down or eliminate cancerous cells. The first clinical trial conducted in patients with Prostate cancer was carried out in 2002 by injecting dendritic cells into which the mRNA coding for PSA was introduced. In 2008, the second clinical trial was carried out in patients with melanoma. Since then, several teams have been working on new approaches. With the rise of personalized medicine, it will soon be possible to take biopsies of tumors, sequence the patient’s genome to identify its specific mutations in order to be able to synthesize one or more mRNAs (cocktail) administered to the patient with the aim of activate the patient’s immune response.
Le Journal des Femmes: How is RNA administered in these patients? In the arm?
Palma Rocchi: Many routes of administration have been evaluated: intradermal, intramuscular, subcutaneous, intravenous and even intranasal. It has been shown that antigen production is stronger and longer after intramuscular or intradermal injection. This RNA is often administered beforehand into the patient’s dendritic cells, which are his immune cells.
Le Journal des Femmes: Could RNA be used for all cancers?
Palma Rocchi: Yes. Today, the most advanced vaccine is the melanoma vaccine but others are being studied such as cancer of the prostate, lung, kidney, pancreas, ovary, colon and brain tumours.
Le Journal des Femmes: What are the side effects?
Palma Rocchi: There may very rarely be a pseudo-allergic reaction caused by the lipid nanoparticle. Regarding mRNA genotoxicity, nothing has ever been demonstrated. Messenger RNA has a lifespan of a few hours, it is not a molecule that will remain permanently in the cell. Moreover, if it were, it would be the same for our own mRNA. Our body makes a lot of mRNA that will never integrate into the genome! So there’s no reason for the mRNA in the vaccine to do that.
Thanks to Palma Rocchi, Research Director at Inserm. Interviewed in September 2021.