#CRUK-Funded: UK’s first vaccine to prevent cancer in people with Lynch syndrome

David Church, Simon Leedham and colleagues at the University of Oxford are developing ‘LynchVax’, the UK’s first vaccine to prevent cancer in people with Lynch syndrome, a heritable genetic condition that increases the risk of bowel and other cancers.

The team has been awarded up to £550,000 by us to carry out the initial underpinning work to test the vaccine’s potential. They will define resulting frameshift peptides in Lynch syndrome associated pre-cancers and determine the mechanisms of immune escape. If successful, the vaccine in development will teach the immune system to identify pre-cancer cells and destroy them before they become cancer.

Meanwhile, the team will also consult the wider Lynch syndrome community to gather their views on a vaccine approach to prevent cancer.

LynchVax is one of several projects funded under our prevention research strategy, which aims to find more precise ways to prevent cancer.