Cancer cure found? Scientists create a new mRNA vaccine that triggers strong anticancer immune response against tumours
cancer research
, scientists at the University of Florida have created an experimental mRNA vaccine that stimulates the immune system to attack tumours. According to a study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the vaccine, when used alongside immune checkpoint inhibitors, produced a strong antitumor effect in mice.
The vaccine does not target specific cancer proteins. Instead, it activates the immune system in the same way it would respond to a virus. Researchers found that the vaccine increased the levels of a protein called PD-L1 within tumours, making them more sensitive to immunotherapy.
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A new approach to cancer treatment
Dr. Elias Sayour, a paediatric oncologist at UF Health and the lead researcher, said this development could lead to a new form of cancer treatment that does not rely entirely on surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and other leading institutions.
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'This paper describes a very unexpected and exciting observation: that even a vaccine not specific to any particular tumor or virus – so long as it is an mRNA vaccine – could lead to tumor-specific effects,' said Sayour, who is also the principal investigator at the RNA Engineering Laboratory at UF's Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy.
Towards a universal cancer vaccine
Sayour added, 'This finding is a proof of concept that these vaccines potentially could be commercialised as
universal cancer vaccine
s to sensitise the immune system against a patient's individual tumor.'
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The research challenges the two current approaches in cancer-vaccine development: targeting common proteins found in cancer patients or customising a vaccine for each patient. This study suggests a third path that focuses on stimulating a broad immune response.
'This study suggests a third emerging paradigm,' said Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD, a co-author of the paper. '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 anticancer 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
.'
Building on past research
Sayour has spent more than eight years developing mRNA-based cancer vaccines using lipid nanoparticles. These vaccines work by delivering messenger RNA (mRNA), a molecule that instructs cells to make specific proteins, into the body to prompt an immune reaction.
Last year, Sayour's lab conducted a human trial using a personalised mRNA vaccine made from a patient's own tumour cells. The treatment quickly activated the immune system to fight glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer. The new study builds on that work by testing a generalised mRNA vaccine, not specific to any virus or cancer mutation.
The formulation of this new vaccine is similar to the technology used in COVID-19 vaccines but is designed to prompt a general immune response rather than target a specific protein like the COVID spike protein.
If the vaccine shows similar results in future human studies, it could lead to a universal tool in the fight against cancer.
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