The new vaccine is currently being trialled in the UK with prostate, lung and ovarian cancers –

For the first time, patients are given a vaccine that could ‘significantly’ improve the treatment of multiple cancers.

The potentially breakthrough coup is being tested in Brits with prostate, lung and ovarian cancer.

Together, these claim 51,000 people a year live in the UK, about a third of all cancer deaths.

While we often think of vaccines as disease prevention, the term can also be applied to drugs that use the power of the immune system to treat them.

This new vaccine directs the immune system to fight a protein that normally protects cancer cells from damage.

Our immune system continually destroys small tumors as they grow. But cancer cells have different strategies to avoid being attacked, which allows the disease to grow and spread. These involve the production of a protein called survival.

It is found in large amounts on the cell surface of many cancers and helps to hide the cancer from the immune system.

It is unclear exactly how. One theory is that because it is also present in some healthy cells, albeit in much smaller amounts, the immune system does not recognize that cancer cells are dangerous and therefore does not attack them.

Developed by Oxford Vacmedix, a company from the University of Oxford, the new vaccine contains a synthetic survival form designed to stimulate a stronger immune system response. The hope is that this will destroy the cancer cells.

The vaccine, known as OVM-200, was first tested in humans in a study of 35 cancer patients at University College Hospital in London and four other centers in the UK.

Participants will receive three doses of the vaccine, two weeks apart, and will be monitored for six months for changes in their cancer and any side effects.

The trial focuses on three types of cancer, but it is hoped the vaccine will be effective against more.

The vaccine, known as OVM-200, was first tested in humans in a study of 35 cancer patients at University College Hospital in London and four other centers in the UK. Health Minister Sajid Javid was spotted visiting the hospital on World Cancer Day in February.

Dr. Martin Forster, medical oncology consultant at the UCL Cancer Institute and principal investigator of the study, said: “Survival is highly expressed in many cancers and is therefore an excellent target for treatments such as this new vaccine.

“This exciting treatment developed by the UK brings new vaccine technology to clinical trials and has the potential to fundamentally change outcomes for our patients. There is a huge unmet need and these are exciting times.’

Commenting on the study, Bristol Urology Associates urologist Professor Raj Persad said: “New targeted therapies like this promise to be much more specific and less toxic in their side effects by simply boosting the body’s immune system.”

But he adds that his research on long-term side effects and the effect of treatment on patient survival are “important before we get too excited.”

“However, from the initial studies this approach seems very encouraging,” he adds.

calling clothes

How can what you wear affect your health? This week: Wearing red may encourage mosquitoes

Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide we breathe in, and research by scientists now at the University of Washington in the United States shows that insects are more likely to target humans if they wear a lot of red, orange or pink.

“These are the dominant colors that reflect on our skin,” said Jeff Riffell, lead author of the study and professor of biology, published in the journal Nature Communications.

Interestingly, mosquitoes were more attracted to blue-green hues, possibly because both male and female mosquitoes feed on sugar resembling nectar from a flower. Many flowers and nectar sources are found in the green-blue wavelength,’ explains Professor Riffell.

As a result, she says the best colors to wear are white or purple to avoid attracting mosquitoes.

Do you know?

According to the Journal of Nutrition, pasta has less of an impact on blood sugar than carbohydrates like couscous or bread. Scientists at the Finnish Technical Research Center asked 26 adults to chew 50g of semolina-based pasta to determine how many “chews” needed before swallowing. The rest of the digestion process was simulated in the lab. The team found that the pasta requires more chewing, breaks up into larger particles, and is more easily digested, possibly because starch is formed when the pasta is dried, leading to fewer blood sugar spikes.