conditions often driven by KRAS mutations. In an early study (Nature Medicine) with 25 participants who had completed standard treatments but had residual cancer, the vaccine elicited a strong immune response in 17 patients after about 20 months. Pancreatic cancer patients lived an average of 29 months post-vaccination, with over 15 months cancer-free. Those with stronger immune responses tended to live longer and stay cancer-free longer. Experts caution that these are preliminary, small, early results and must be validated in larger, randomized trials before clinical benefit can be confirmed. The vaccine is not personalized (it’s bulk-manufactured) and is currently being tested in a Phase 2 randomized trial. If proven effective, an off-the-shelf vaccine could offer a cost- and time-efficient option to help the immune system target mutant KRAS-bearing cancer cells. (Euronews)