Testing Underway on Vaccines to Intercept Brewing Colon Cancer Before It Takes Root
(MedPage Today) -- Stacy Norton, MD, was only 7 years old when her mother died of colon cancer, one of several family members struck by aggressive tumors at unusually young ages. Decades later, Norton rolled up her sleeve to help test if a new...
Stacy Norton, MD, a Houston doctor, lost her mother to colon cancer at a young age, prompting her to consider a possible vaccine against the disease. She is one of the 1 million Americans with Lynch syndrome, a genetic condition that increases the risk of colorectal and other cancers. Lynch syndrome is caused by faulty genes that impair the body's ability to prevent tumor development, often leading to colon cancer before age 50.
Current screening for Lynch syndrome-related cancer involves annual colonoscopies, but a new vaccine aims to train the immune system to detect and eliminate early-stage tumors. Three potential Lynch syndrome vaccines are in development, including two in early U.S. clinical trials and a third beginning in Britain. Norton participated in an early study of a vaccine developed by Swiss biotech Nouscom, which showed promising results in reducing precancerous growths and eliminating advanced polyps.
If successful, this vaccine could potentially reduce the need for frequent colonoscopies in Lynch syndrome carriers, providing hope for her own children who also inherited her mutation.
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