At ESMO in Madrid, Dr. Eduardo Vilar-Sanchez of MD Anderson presents long-term follow-up on NOUS-209, an investigational immunotherapy that trains the immune system to recognise Lynch-related cells before they become cancer. Carriers who received it were free of advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer on colonoscopy at one year and two years, and their immune responses grew stronger after annual re-vaccination. The program now has the funding and FDA Fast Track designation to move into a global registration-enabling trial.
Lynch syndrome is a hereditary condition that substantially increases the risk of colorectal, endometrial and other cancers.
In a cohort expansion of the Phase I trial testing Nous-209, an investigational neoantigen-based vaccine designed to intercept cancer development in individuals with Lynch syndrome, researchers evaluated safety and outcomes following re-vaccination.
The study assessed two re-vaccination strategies, each administered one year after an initial vaccine series. Both approaches were well tolerated, with no severe side effects. Investigators reported enhanced T cell immune responses following re-vaccination, with the strongest immune boost seen in patients receiving a single neoantigen booster dose. In addition, no advanced colorectal cancers were detected in follow-up colonoscopies for study participants.
