OvarianVax and what you need to know about the ovarian cancer vaccine

What is OvarianVax?

OvarianVax is a groundbreaking vaccine being developed to prevent ovarian cancer. This innovative research is focused on teaching the body’s immune system to recognise and destroy cancer cells before they have a chance to develop into full-blown cancer.

Spearheaded by Professor Ahmed Ahmed and his team at the University of Oxford, OvarianVax could offer a life-saving solution for women at high risk of ovarian cancer, such as those with BRCA1/2 mutations, and potentially for all women if successful in clinical trials.

How Does OvarianVax Work?

OvarianVax works by training the immune system to detect and eliminate cells that are prone to developing into ovarian cancer. Similar to other cancer vaccines, it targets specific antigens associated with ovarian cancer cells, enabling the immune system to act before cancer takes hold.

How is Ovarian Cancer Action involved with this research?

Ovarian Cancer Action has been a pivotal supporter of Professor Ahmed’s research for over a decade. The charity funded key early-stage research that laid the foundation for the development of the OvarianVax project.

Without Ovarian Cancer Action's support, this project would not have been in a position to secure major funding from Cancer Research UK, which is now helping to bring the vaccine closer to clinical trials.

Alongside funding Professor Ahmed Ahmed’s past research, Ovarian Cancer Action organised and facilitated a workshop where patients shared their perspectives on the acceptability of a preventative vaccine for patients. From this, patients agreed that a vaccine would be strongly welcomed by women most at risk of developing the disease.

Ovarian Cancer Action will continue to support this research with our Patient Research Network, to make sure the patient voice is at the forefront of this pioneering research.

Why is a vaccine for ovarian cancer so important?

Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage, making it one of the hardest cancers to treat. Often the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer do not present until later stages of the cancer and are often misdiagnosed as other, less-threatening illnesses. A preventative vaccine could transform outcomes for women, reducing the number of late-stage diagnoses and saving lives.

We’ve seen the impact that the HPV vaccine has had on cervical cancer – it's been such a success that the World Health Organisation has committed to eradicating cervical cancer by 2030.

Is this vaccine only for women with the BRCA gene fault?

The initial focus of OvarianVax is on women who have a BRCA1/2 gene fault (also called a gene mutation or alteration), as they are at a much higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. However, the long-term goal is for the vaccine to be made available more widely if it proves successful in clinical trials. This could mean that, in the future, all women could potentially benefit from the vaccine, particularly those at heightened risk of ovarian cancer.

Will the vaccine be available for all women?

The hope is that OvarianVax will not only protect women with inherited risk factors like BRCA1/2 mutations but could also become a preventative measure for women without these genetic mutations. Current research is focused on understanding how the immune system reacts to early cancerous cells in the fallopian tube, which is believed to be the starting point for many ovarian cancers. If the trials are successful, the vaccine could become available more broadly.

When will the vaccine go to clinical trials?

OvarianVax is in the early stages of development, and while the research idea is promising, it will take time to complete the necessary stages of development and testing.

Professor Ahmed and his team are currently working on understanding which proteins in cancer cells trigger the immune system response. Once this research is refined, the project will enter clinical trials to test the vaccine's effectiveness in humans. The research project is for three years for now.

While no exact date for a clinical trial is set, funding from Cancer Research UK has accelerated the timeline, bringing clinical trials closer.

When will the vaccine be ready?

This research is still at the beginning stages. Due to the complexity of the research and the rigorous testing involved in vaccine development, it is difficult to predict an exact timeline.

After successful clinical trials, the vaccine would still need to go through regulatory approval before it can be made widely available.

While we are still years away from a final product, each new discovery brings us one step closer to making OvarianVax a reality.

Will the vaccine help women who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer?

Not at this stage. OvarianVax is primarily being developed as a preventative measure, aimed at stopping ovarian cancer from forming in the first place.