Australia Launches World’s First Personalized mRNA Vaccine Trial to Treat Aggressive Childhood Brain Cancer

Sydney — Australia has launched the world’s first clinical trial of a personalized mRNA vaccine designed to treat children and adolescents with advanced or treatment-resistant brain tumors.

 

The University of Queensland announced that the PaedNEO-VAX study, led by the university in collaboration with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, will recruit patients from eight children’s hospitals across Australia. The trial aims to provide new hope for families facing the country’s deadliest childhood disease.

 

Jordan Hansford, clinical trial lead at the institute, said the study will enroll pediatric patients with aggressive brain tumors that have recurred or failed to respond to existing treatments. These include glioma and medulloblastoma, two of the most serious types of brain tumors in children.

 

The trial will be conducted in two phases. Phase 1 will focus on evaluating the vaccine’s safety, while Phase 2 will assess its effectiveness, including its impact on patient survival rates and quality of life.

 

Brandon Wainwright, scientific lead of the trial at the University of Queensland’s Frazer Institute, said personalized mRNA cancer vaccines have already shown promising results in treating rare and difficult-to-treat cancers in adults, including pancreatic cancer and melanoma.

 

Researchers explained that each vaccine will be uniquely designed for individual patients. By sequencing the genome of each child’s tumor and using advanced data analysis, scientists can identify cancer-specific markers and select vaccine targets tailored to that tumor.

 

The customized vaccines will be manufactured in Queensland by Southern RNA and delivered to participating trial sites. Each patient is expected to receive their personalized vaccine within about 10 weeks after enrollment in the trial.

 

The clinical trial is supported by 2.58 million Australian dollars (approximately US$1.7 million) in funding from the Australian federal government.

 

Source : Xinhua Thai News