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World-first lung cancer vaccine trials launched across seven countries
Doctors have begun trialling the world’s first mRNA lung cancer vaccine in patients, as experts hailed its “groundbreaking” potential to save thousands of lives.
Lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer death, accounting for about 1.8m deaths every year. Survival rates in those with advanced forms of the disease, where tumours have spread, are particularly poor.
Now experts are testing a new jab that instructs the body to hunt down and kill cancer cells – then prevents them ever coming back. Known as BNT116 and made by BioNTech, the vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease.
The phase 1 clinical trial, the first human study of BNT116, has launched across 34 research sites in seven countries: the UK, US, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey.
Overall, about 130 patients – from early-stage before surgery or radiotherapy, to late-stage disease or recurrent cancer – will be enrolled to have the jab alongside immunotherapy. About 20 will be from the UK.
The jab uses messenger RNA (mRNA), similar to Covid-19 vaccines, and works by presenting the immune system with tumour markers from NSCLC to prime the body to fight cancer cells expressing these markers.
The aim is to strengthen a person’s immune response to cancer while leaving healthy cells untouched, unlike chemotherapy.
The Guardian revealed in May that thousands of patients in England were to be fast-tracked into groundbreaking trials of cancer vaccines in a revolutionary world-first NHS “matchmaking” scheme to save lives.
Under the scheme, patients who meet the eligibility criteria will gain access to clinical trials for the vaccines that experts say represent a new dawn in cancer treatment.
Source: The Guardian, 23 August 2024
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Isle of Man: Shop visits ahead of new vape product display ban
Manx retailers have "not indicated" that they would struggle to comply with new laws banning vaping products to under-18s, a consumer watchdog has said.
Under the Vaping Products Bill 2024 the public display or advertising of the products in places where those under the age of 18 are admitted will be banned from 1 September.
Chairman of the Office for Fair Trading (OF) Tim Glover said retailers had been visited by the trading standards team who had offered advice about the new regulations.
During the visits businesses had been given an underage warning sign to display to informing customers of the new age restrictions.
Mr Glover said advice given during the visits was on the types of cabinet, gantry system and cupboards that could be used, as well as cost effective measures to avoid unnecessary expenditure.
Each retailer was asked if they would be "fully compliant" by the deadline and no business had "indicated that they could not meet" it, he said.
In the last two weeks of August retailers would be visited again by members of the trading standards team to confirm they are prepared for the display ban, he confirmed.
In the first week of September businesses selling vaping products are set to be visited for a third time to ensure compliance to the new regulations, he added.
Source: BBC News, 23 August 2024
See also: BBC News - Isle of Man bans sale of vapes to under-18s | Isle of Man Legislation - Vaping Products Act 2024
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Ministry of Health and WHO release Global Adult Tobacco Survey Indonesia Report 2021
The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Indonesia Report 2021 presents detailed information on tobacco use and key tobacco control indicators across the country, using globally standardised protocols and methodologies.
The report found that 34.5% of adults – 70.2 million people – used tobacco. The percentage of tobacco use among men was 65.5% and among women was 3.3%. Use of electronic cigarettes increased by 10 times in the last 10 years, from 0.3% in 2011 – when the last GATS was conducted – to 3% in 2021.
The report found that exposure to second-hand smoke in public places continued to be high. A total of 74.2% of adults were exposed to second-hand smoke in restaurants and 44.8% in workplaces. Almost 78% of current smokers noticed health warnings on cigarette package labels. More smokers wanted to quit compared to 10 years ago; however, the number of users given advice by health care providers to quit tobacco use improved by just over 4 percentage points, from 34.6% to 38.9%.
Across Indonesia, WHO will continue to advocate for implementation of strong tobacco control measures. This includes increased taxation of tobacco products, expansion of subnational bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and stronger, more effective implementation and enforcement of smoke-free policies.
Source: WHO, 22 August 2024
See also: WHO - Global Adult Tobacco Survey Indonesia Report 2021 | WHO - Global Adult Tobacco Survey Indonesia Fact Sheet 2021
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USA: Type 2 diabetes increased by almost 20% between 2012 and 2022, according to a new study.
The researchers found an increase in diabetes among all sociodemographic groups. But non-Hispanic Black people were particularly hard hit by the disease, with just under 16% of Black study participants reporting being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
More than one in five individuals aged 65 or older had the condition. The same age group was more than 10 times as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than people in the 18-to-24-year age bracket. People between the ages of 45 and 64 were over five times as likely to receive the diagnosis.
The researchers also found that individuals with lower incomes had a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes than their higher income counterparts. People with high incomes were 41% less likely to be diagnosed with the disease. And individuals with a college education were 24% less likely to be given a diabetes diagnosis.
“Diabetes is increasing day by day in the US, and it will increase even more in the coming years,” says Sulakshan Neupane, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
“Diabetes costs around $412 billion, including medical costs and indirect costs like loss of productivity. That’s a huge amount, and it’s only going to increase as more people are diagnosed with the disease.”
The researchers used data from the nationally representative Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an ongoing health survey of more than 400,000 people.
In addition to other risk factors, the researchers found regional differences in diabetes prevalence as well.
Overweight and obese participants were also more likely to report being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. About one in five obese individuals reported having the disease in 2022 while one in 10 overweight participants reported having the condition.
Physical activity seemed to guard against diabetes to an extent, with physically active individuals facing a prevalence of under 10% while inactive people experienced a rate at closer to 19%.
“Identifying these risk factors and acting to mitigate them is key,” Neupane says. “Be more active. Pay more attention to your physical health. Some risk factors like age and race cannot be modified, but you can do something to lower risk of diabetes, like, healthy eating, maintaining an active lifestyle, and losing weight.”
Source: Futurity, 22 August 2024
See also: ASH - Smoking and Diabetes | Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism - Regional disparities in type 2 diabetes prevalence and associated risk factors in the United States | American Journal of Preventative Medicine - Trends and Disparities in Diabetes Prevalence in the United States from 2012 to 2022
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ADPH Briefing: Public health funding 2024
This briefing presents the public health funding landscape across the UK, including ADPH’s recommendations for how to reform what is spent on public health funding and how this funding is spent.
The briefing aims to support ADPH’s partners at a local and national level to understand the constraints Directors of Public Health (DsPH) operate within and is part of their campaigning for a more significant and sustainable funding package.
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Smokefree Pledge: North Middlesex University Hospital
North Middlesex University Hospital signs the NHS Smokefree Pledge. The pledge is a commitment to tackle tobacco dependence and create a healthier environment for patients, staff, and the wider community. Chief Executive Nnenna Osuji, Medical Director Vicky Jones, and Chairman Mark Lam all signed the pledge on behalf of North Middlesex University Hospital.
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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