An Oxford-led clinical trial has given the first patient an experimental cancer vaccine designed to help the immune system recognise and attack oesophageal (gullet) cancer.
The VISTA trial, which is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Oxford, is testing a vaccine called ITOP1, developed by the University of Oxford spin-out biotechnology company Infinitopes, in people newly diagnosed with oesophageal and gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (OAC), a cancer that affects the lower gullet or where it connects to the stomach.
ITOP1 aims to exploit naturally occurring cancer antigens that can stimulate long-lasting T-cell protection against solid tumours. T cells are a type of white blood cell that plays a key role in the immune system.
The study includes patients whose cancer can be treated with surgery, as the researchers are investigating whether giving the vaccine before surgery, while the tumour is still present, can help generate a stronger immune response.
Professor Mark Middleton, Chief Investigator of the trial and Consultant Medical Oncologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The first patient dosed in VISTA is an important landmark for our programme and for the wider field of therapeutic cancer vaccines.
“Doing this before surgery provides a fantastic opportunity to study immune responses while the patient’s primary tumour is still there. VISTA is designed to see if this approach safely generates meaningful anti-tumour immunity and if this can delay or prevent recurrence after standard treatment and surgery.”
In this initial phase, when eight participants will be recruited, the trial will assess how safe and well tolerated the vaccine is, and whether it produces immune responses that could be linked to anti-cancer activity. Results from this phase are expected from early 2027.
The trial will then be expanded to a randomised, placebo-controlled Phase 2a stage, in which 52 additional participants will be recruited.