Mae Holloway, Medical Science Correspondent
🚀 A Vaccine to Treat Cancer? It’s No Longer Science Fiction
In a world first, an mRNA-based lung cancer vaccine is now being trialled in humans. Its name: BNT116, developed by BioNTech—the same German biotech that co-developed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. This time, their target isn’t a virus. It’s one of the world’s deadliest diseases: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
On June 6, 2024, the company officially announced the launch of a large-scale, multicountry Phase I clinical trial. Participants are now being enrolled in the UK, United States, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Poland, and Turkey, with early dosing already under way—including a 67-year-old Londoner who became the world’s first recipient.
🧬 How Does It Work?
Unlike traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy or radiation—blunt tools that often attack healthy tissue—BNT116 is designed to train the body’s own immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. It does this using messenger RNA (mRNA), the same kind of molecule used in COVID-19 vaccines.
- The mRNA in the vaccine carries genetic “blueprints” for six tumor-associated antigens commonly found in NSCLC.
- These blueprints are delivered to the body’s cells, which then produce harmless fragments of the cancer antigens.
- This triggers the immune system to “see” these antigens as threats—arming T-cells and other immune responders to hunt down cancer cells expressing those same markers.
In short: it helps your body recognise the enemy—and go after it.
🔬 What's the Scope of the Trial?
The official name of the trial is LuCa-MERIT-1 (BNT116-01). It is a first-in-human, open-label, dose-escalation study that’s designed to test:
- âś… Safety and tolerability of BNT116 on its own
- âś… How it performs in combination with other therapies, including:
- Cemiplimab (a PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor)
- Chemotherapy drugs such as carboplatin, paclitaxel, and docetaxel
The trial involves multiple treatment arms across different patient groups—from newly diagnosed individuals to those experiencing relapse after other therapies. According to BioNTech, the goal is to eventually enrol 10,000 participants by 2030.
🧪 What Have We Seen So Far?
Early results presented at the 2023 SITC (Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer) conference were encouraging:
- Most adverse events were mild to moderate, including flu-like symptoms such as chills and fever.
- Immune activation markers were observed, suggesting the vaccine is indeed sparking the intended T-cell response.
- No dose-limiting toxicities were identified in the earliest cohorts.
BNT116 is giving researchers hope for a future where cancer treatment starts with education—not eradication—of the body’s own immune defences. #CancerResearch #BNT116 #mRNAImmunotherapy
🌍 Why This Matters
Lung cancer kills more than 1.8 million people every year globally, and NSCLC accounts for 85% of cases. Even with recent advances in immunotherapy, many patients relapse, and treatment often comes with brutal side effects.
BNT116 represents a paradigm shift—a therapy that is:
- 🎯 Personalised to tumor-specific antigens
- ⚡ Less toxic than traditional chemo
- 🧠Smarter in how it educates the immune system
And because it uses mRNA technology, it can potentially be rapidly customised in the future to fit different mutations and cancer types.
đź“Ť Final Thoughts
Is this the beginning of a new era in cancer care?
Possibly. The story of BNT116 is still unfolding, but its foundation is solid. The science is real, the technology is mature, and BioNTech is proving once again that mRNA’s promise goes far beyond COVID.
Watch this space. And if you or someone you love is facing lung cancer, clinical trial options may soon include a vaccine—not just chemotherapy.