Pancreatic cancer vaccine trials have begun at 53 hospitals in the U.K.
According to BBC News, more than 1,000 patients with an advanced stage of the cancer are part of the TeloVac trial. Researchers say the vaccine will stimulate the immune system to fight the disease.
"This will be a pivotal trial, lead researcher John Neoptolemos told The Times. "If it's successful, it would make a real difference to the way clinicians behave and patients are treated."
Smaller studies have found people given the vaccine, as well as chemotherapy, live three months longer than those given chemotherapy alone.
Called GV1001, the vaccine contains enzymes of telomerase. Telomerase is normally found in embryos and cancer cells. They encourage other cells to grow and in cancer, can multiply unchecked.
The vaccine hopes to reach the bodys natural immune-fighting T-cells and prompt them to recognize cells that are malignant.
The problem is tumors are clever and are able to turn the immune cells into traitors, which help guard the tumor, said Professor John Neotolemos of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, one of the hospitals coordinating the trial. The vaccine takes away the masking effect of the tumor.
According to the National Cancer Institute, 36,800 people died of pancreatic cancer annually and more than 43,000 new cases of the disease were diagnosed in 2010.
If successful, the vaccine could be available as early as 2013.
