Testing in the lab. Oxford scientists are developing OvarianVax, the world’s first ovarian cancer prevention vaccine, with £600k backing from Cancer Research UK.
Credit: Pexels, Tima Miroshnichenko
Scientists at the University of Oxford are currently developing an Ovarian Cancer vaccine (the OvarianVax.)
Oxford University scientists are developing OvarianVax, the world’s first ovarian cancer prevention vaccine. With £600k backing from Cancer Research UK, this groundbreaking jab aims to help the body identify and eliminate cancer cells early in high-risk women. Clinical trials are expected soon.
What is the OvarianVax, and Who is it For?
Researchers developing the vaccine are hoping that it could, in the future, help eradicate ovarian cancer, by helping the body identify and kill cancer cells as soon as they begin to appear. The vaccine would act as a prevention rather than a cure, so it would likely be administered to high-risk individual patients first. Women with the BRCA1 gene mutation are currently considered to be at higher risk.
It’s likely to take several years before becoming available to the public on the NHS or through the Spanish Healthcare System, as it needs to be developed and then it must undergo clinical trials.
Researchers are currently still in the lab stage of development, as they try to work out which proteins on the surface of early-stage ovarian cancer cells are most strongly recognised. Providing this stage is successful, they will move on to clinical trials. At this stage, health officials and regulators will decide whether it’s safe and effective for widespread rollout.
As previously reported by viraltrendingcontent their research is so promising that they have just received a whopping £600,000 from Cancer Research UK to develop the world’s first ovarian cancer prevention vaccine.
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