Doctors have begun the world’s first trials on single patients vaccine mRNA against him lung cancerwhich experts say could save thousands of lives.

This vaccine, known as BNT116 and has been developed by BioNTechis designed to target non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), the most common type of lung cancer. Its goal is to eliminate cancer cells while preventing them from coming back by training the immune system to recognize these cancer cells and attack them.

The phase 1 clinical trial, the first study of BNT116 in humans, has started at 34 research institutions in 7 countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey.

A total of approximately 130 patients – from first-stage patients, before surgery or radiation, to advanced-stage or metastatic cancer – will receive the vaccine alongside immunotherapy.

The vaccine uses messenger RNA (mRNA), like the Covid-19 vaccines, and works by providing the immune system with cancer markers from MRSA to train the body to attack cancer cells that express these markers.

The goal is to boost the immune system’s response to cancer while leaving healthy cells intact, unlike chemotherapy.

According to the British newspaper The Guardianthe first UK patient got the shot on Tuesday, marking a critical milestone for the study.

Experts, such as oncology professor Siow Ming Lee of University College London Hospitals, underline to the Guardian that this is the beginning of a “very exciting new era” in cancer research.

British Science Minister Lord Vallance expressed his optimism about the trial and underlined that this vaccine could save thousands of lives, according to the Guardian.