Prof Lawrence Young, an oncologist who has been working in cancer research for 40 years, tells Sun Health: 'We are turning a corner with cancer, there is no doubt about it'“Cancer “ and “exciting” don’t tend to go hand-in-hand yet those are the words on the lips of scientists following a series of studies of new-age treatments.
The NHS announced in May that it would trial personalised cancer vaccines designed by biotech giants BioNTech and Genentech. Unlike traditional vaccines, which prevent disease, these are being tested for their efficacy in preventing relapses.Speaking at the conference, Cancer Research UK’s top doctor, Professor Charles Swanton, called the results “extremely impressive”.
“The normal growth of our cells is controlled by switches which become mutated and permanently switched on in cancer cells.Kinase inhibitors are targeted drugs – small molecules that stop certain enzymes involved in cancer growth. They are typically non-smokers under the age of 40 and about a quarter of patients’ tumours spread to their brain before they are diagnosed.
These new blood tests can “identify minuscule amounts of DNA shed from tumour cells into the blood”, Prof Young says.