The OvarianVax vaccination primes the immune system to identify and combat ovarian cancer in its early stages.
Scientists from the University of Oxford are developing it.
In an effort to eradicate the illness, it is hoped that women would be able to get the vaccination on the NHS as a prophylactic measure.
Experts speculate that it might function similarly to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which is poised to eradicate cervical cancer.
Finding cellular targets for the vaccination is what Professor Ahmed Ahmed and his group at the university’s MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine’s ovarian cancer cell laboratory are attempting to do.
They will determine how well the vaccine destroys disease models in a lab setting as well as which proteins on the surface of early-stage ovarian cancer cells are most recognized by the immune system.
Subsequently, it can be tested in human clinical trials on both healthy women and individuals with BRCA gene abnormalities, which significantly raise the risk of ovarian cancer.
Up to £600,000 in funding from Cancer Research UK will be allocated to the project over the next three years.
When asked if the new vaccine could eradicate ovarian cancer, Professor Ahmed replied, “That would be the aim, absolutely.”
