The first UK patients received the experimental mRNA therapy – a type of immunotherapy treatment called mRNA-4359 – at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust as part of a phase 1/2 clinical trial. The trial aims to evaluate its safety and potential for treating melanoma, lung cancer and other ‘solid tumour’ cancers.
The treatment is designed using messenger RNA (mRNA) and works by presenting common markers of tumours to the patient’s immune system. This should help to train patients’ immune systems to recognise and fight cancer cells expressing these markers, but also potentially eliminate cells that may suppress the immune response.
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