ideasIdea
An Epstein-Barr virus vaccine to prevent nasopharyngeal cancer and lymphomas
EBV infects almost everyone and causes nasopharyngeal cancer, some lymphomas and some stomach cancers. A vaccine given before infection could remove those cancers.
Moderna's mRNA-1189 and NIH gp350 nanoparticle vaccines are in early trials. Propose accelerated development with infection prevention and infectious mononucleosis as first endpoints, then deployment in high-incidence nasopharyngeal cancer regions.
Hypothesis
An EBV vaccine preventing at least 70% of primary infection in adolescents reduces EBV-associated cancers by a similar fraction in vaccinated cohorts over decades.
Rationale
HPV and HBV vaccines prove the model; EBV-related cancers exceed 200,000 cases a year.
What would test it
Run a phase 2 infection-prevention trial in EBV-seronegative adolescents.
Maturity
early clinical
Who has to act
industry
Cost to try
Large (over $50M)
Years to first evidence
15
Bottlenecks it attacks
- Prevention we already have is not deployed · Around four in ten cancers are preventable with tools we already own: vaccines, tobacco control, weight, alcohol, sun and infection control.