https://innovationsjournals-jipo.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/jipo/9/4/article-p124.xml
What was studied: Doctors treated a patient with an experimental cancer vaccine called Nous‑209 along side pembrolizumab, a standard immunotherapy drug that works by “releasing the brakes” on the immune system so it can attack cancer.
Who it was for: The patient had a type of bowel (colorectal) cancer known as “dMMR” — a cancer with faulty DNA repair machinery. These tumours make a lot of abnormal proteins, which makes them easier for the immune system to recognise. This patient also had many benign (non-cancerous) growths, called polyps, in the bowel — some of which could eventually turn into cancer.
What happened:
- The patient’s cancer disappeared completely on clinical assessment (a “complete clinical response”).
- The number of benign polyps dropped substantially — something not clearly seen before with immunotherapy alone.
Why this matters: The vaccine appears to boost the immune system so strongly that it not only attacks the cancer, but also clears away pre-cancerous growths. In theory, this could:
- Lower the chance of the cancer coming back
- Stop new polyps forming
- Offer a form of “immunoprevention” — using the immune system to prevent cancer before it develops
This could be especially valuable for people with dMMR cancers (such as those with Lynch syndrome) and for people with polyposis syndromes, who develop large numbers of polyps and face a high lifetime risk of bowel cancer.
Important caution: These results come from just one patient. A single case cannot prove that the treatment works reliablyor safely for others — it may have been a one-off response. Larger clinical trials and laboratory studies are needed toconfirm the findings and to understand exactly how the treatment produces these effects.
Lynch Syndrome Ireland 