Work starts on a cancer vaccine for people with Lynch syndrome

With our funding, scientists at the University of Oxford are starting work on a vaccine to prevent cancer in people with Lynch syndrome. 

Lynch syndrome is a rare genetic condition that runs in families and increases the risk of bowel cancer, womb (endometrial) cancer and some other cancer types. The LynchVax vaccine could be a way to train people’s immune systems to stop these cancers from developing. 

Simon Leedham, Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Oxford, is co-lead of the LynchVax research team. 

“People with Lynch syndrome are at very high risk of developing bowel cancer, womb cancer and other cancers – so much so that they get invited to attend bowel screening appointments at a younger age than the rest of the UK population,” he said. 

“LynchVax has the potential to reduce that risk. While our work is in its infancy, we are excited by the prospect of a vaccine that can potentially be used to prevent the multiple types of cancer that typically occur in people with Lynch syndrome and deliver tangible improvements in survival.” 

The first steps towards a vaccine

We’ve awarded up to £550,000 in funding to Leedham’s team, which will enable them to closely study the abnormal cell changes that lead to cancer in people with Lynch syndrome. By analysing these precancerous cells, the researchers hope to identify ways a vaccine could train the immune system to recognise and destroy them. 

“We hope our research will lay the early foundations to potentially prevent these [cancers] through vaccination, removing the fear of cancer from people whose chances of developing it in their lifetime are far higher,” said the LynchVax team’s other co-lead, Associate Professor David Church, a Cancer Research UK Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellow at the University of Oxford. 

Although the LynchVax team is taking its first step towards developing a vaccine and it will likely take years before the technology is ready to be tested in clinical trials, people with Lynch syndrome have already contributed to the project. They will continue to be closely involved as the research progresses. 

Alongside the scientific work, the team will consult a larger number of people living with Lynch syndrome on their views about using vaccination to prevent cancer. “This is a crucial step in preparing for future clinical trials,” said Helen White, a member of the LynchVax patient and public involvement group. 

LynchVax is one of several projects we’re funding through our prevention research strategy, which aims to use discoveries in the lab to find more precise ways to prevent cancer. This includes research into a vaccine to prevent lung cancer (LungVax).