SYDNEY, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Australia has launched a world-first clinical trial using personalized mRNA vaccines to treat children and adolescents with advanced or treatment-resistant brain tumors.
The PaedNEO-VAX study, co-led by Australia's University of Queensland (UQ) and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), will enroll patients at eight pediatric hospitals across Australia, offering new hope for families facing the country's deadliest childhood disease, said a UQ statement on Tuesday.
Clinical lead Jordan Hansford from SAHMRI said the trial was available for pediatric patients with relapsed and unresponsive high-grade brain tumors, including gliomas and medulloblastomas.
Phase I will assess safety, followed by Phase II to test effectiveness and impact on survival and quality of life, Hansford said.
The trial's scientific lead Brandon Wainwright from UQ's Frazer Institute said personalized mRNA cancer vaccines had shown promising results in adults with rare and hard-to-treat cancers, including pancreatic cancer and melanoma.
"After identifying unique cancer markers in each child's tumor using genome sequencing and advanced data analysis, we will select tumor-specific vaccine targets," Wainwright said.
Customized vaccines for each child will be manufactured in the Australian state of Queensland by Southern RNA and sent to trial sites for dosing within about 10 weeks of trial enrollment, backed by 2.58 million Australian dollars (1.81 million U.S. dollars) in federal funding, researchers said. ■