Tumor eradication in mice prompts trials for human cancer vaccine
Researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine have made a surprising finding that they say could “wake up” the immune system to fight cancer, possibly leading to a universal vaccine.
According to an announcement, a new study showed that an experimental vaccine developed using mRNA technology boosted tumor resistance in mice, when compared to a cohort that was given standard anti-cancer drugs.
The results seem to indicate the mice given the vaccine developed an immune response that allowed them to more effectively resist cancerous tumors. The findings were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. [1]
The promising results have spurred interest in how humans would react to the mRNA vaccine, with the researchers hoping it could be used as a treatment, either by itself or in conjunction with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
The experimental shot used in the study was not derived from any specific cancer or tumor, the researchers noted. Instead, the mRNA vaccines work by triggering the immune system to respond to signs of cancer growth, evoking a tumor-specific response from the body.
The team said the technology is already being prepared for trials on human patients, and a resulting vaccine could be broadly commercialized if it's found to be successful.
“This study suggests a third emerging paradigm,” Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD, co-author of the study, said in the announcement. “What we found is by using a vaccine designed not to target cancer specifically but rather to stimulate a strong immunologic response, we could elicit a very strong anti-cancer reaction. And so this has significant potential to be broadly used across cancer patients—even possibly leading us to an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine.”
Effectively, the vaccine itself works as a type of immunotherapy, the researchers noted. Other cancer vaccines are out there, which use modified viruses or antigens to fight the disease in a targeted fashion. What makes this mRNA shot unique is the potential for broad applications, with the immune system effectively being educated to identify cancer as a foreign invader.
“It could potentially be a universal way of waking up a patient’s own immune response to cancer,” Mitchell added. “And that would be profound if generalizable to human studies.”
Tumors in mice were eliminated
For the study on mice, bone, skin and brain cancer were targeted by the immune system, and in some instances tumors was eradicated. Now, the goal is to modify the formula for human subjects.
The researchers stated that they are actively working on that, and hope to begin human clinical trials to test its efficacy in the near future.
For more, read the full announcement from the University of Florida here. The mouse model study is available at the link below.
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