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Cancer Vaccine Breakthrough: What We Know About 'Exciting' Early Data
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Researchers at the University of Florida are moving closer to developing what they have described as a "universal" cancer vaccine, according to a study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering on July 18.
The vaccine would work by "waking the immune system up against something that looks dangerous, and then that response spills over to recognize and reject the tumor," Dr. Elias Sayour, co-author of the study, director of the Pediatric Cancer Immunotherapy Initiative, and principal investigator at the RNA Engineering Laboratory at the University of Florida, told Newsweek.
Sayour said that he believed the vaccine would apply to all types of cancer, because the treatment would result in the immune system being able to "recognize and reject all forms of cancer."
"In active cancers, the immune system has been fooled or lies dormant," he said. "This approach can wake it up, restoring it in the fight against cancer."
Sayour said that the concept of the treatment is being investigated in ongoing clinical human trials. If all goes well, it "could be a completely new paradigm to treat all cancer patients."
Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Most people think of vaccines as being "preventive," and taken to "prevent or lessen the impact of certain infectious diseases," David Braun, a professor of medicine and member of the Center of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at Yale Cancer Center, told Newsweek.
While there are some efforts in this field for cancer, the majority of trials investigate "therapeutic" vaccines, which are used to try to treat cancer once it develops, he said.
"Most cancer vaccines try to steer the immune system to attack a patient's cancer, which makes it very difficult to create a universal vaccine," Braun, who is not associated with the study, said.
Referring to the study, Braun said the research team is proposing "the idea that the vaccination itself, somewhat irrespective of what it is targeting, might stimulate the immune system enough to attack cancer."
"It is a very intriguing idea, but would need to be tested very carefully in clinical studies," he added.
What Does This Mean for Cancer Treatment?
Almost 2 million new cancer cases were reported in the United States in 2022. In 2023, more than 600,000 people died of cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease. In 2022, cancer accounted for almost 19 percent of deaths in the country, according to Statista data.
Cancer vaccines have been approved in the past, such as Provenge, the Seattle biotech company Dendreon's shot used to treat certain forms of advanced prostate cancer.
There are also others currently undergoing the clinical trial process, such as Moderna's experimental mRNA-4157 cancer vaccine, which aims to prevent the recurrence of melanoma and lung cancer and has progressed to Phase 3 in its clinical trials.
However, what makes this new study notable is the fact that it is one step closer to researchers finding a vaccine to treat all types of cancer, rather than a specific type.
"This strategy could be a promising neoadjuvant therapy prior to checkpoint blockades or other cancer therapies," Hua Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told Newsweek.
"With more success of personalized cancer vaccines, the researchers, clinicians, and the patient community will hopefully gain more confidence in cancer vaccines," Wang, who is not associated with the study, said. "At that stage, the goal of developing a universal cancer vaccine will be more reachable."
Braun deemed the study "exciting early data," but told Newsweek it still has "a long path to having a major impact on the treatment of cancers in individuals."
Potential Challenges
While the findings are a "promising" breakthrough in cancer research, Wang said that still "rigorous safety evaluations and the optimization for therapeutic benefits are needed before this strategy can move forward."
"Generally speaking, every one of us is hoping for a universal cancer vaccine that can treat or prevent different types of cancers," he said.
However, Wang added that practically, "personalized" cancer vaccines are "more likely to cross the finish line because of the higher specificity and thus less off-target effects."
While many types of cancer vaccines are currently being tested in clinical trials, Wang said that the challenge largely lies in "the balance of therapeutic benefits and safety."
Another key issue is that "very few researchers have the resources and support needed to push forward a clinical trial on cancer vaccine," he added.
Braun also said that, while cancer vaccines hold "tremendous promise," they also raise a number of open questions.
"What are the best targets for the vaccine, or are more universal vaccines possible?" he said. "In what setting would a vaccine be most effective? What other types of treatments should be given together with the vaccine?"
He added that in the coming years, "it will be critical to answers these questions while also having definitive clinical studies to prove that cancer vaccines help patients to live longer."
Full Interview Below
Q1: What does this study mean for the general public? How could this change the prevalence and treatment of cancer?
Hua Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: "This paper reports that the early stimulation of IFN-I pathways could increase the sensitivity of poorly-immunogenic tumors to checkpoint blockades. The researchers performed the IFN-I stimulation by using unmodified mRNAs (without a specific target). This strategy could be a promising neoadjuvant therapy prior to checkpoint blockades or other cancer therapies. However, rigorous safety evaluations and the optimization for therapeutic benefits are still needed before this strategy can move forward."
David Braun, a professor of medicine and member of the Center of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at Yale Cancer Center: "This study has two important goals: (1) to understand why current immune-based treatments work so well in some patients, and (2) to try to use that knowledge to design new immune treatments. In animal models, the research team is able to make tumors more sensitivity to immune therapy using this new approach. While exciting early data, we do have to remember that this is early work in animal studies, and so there is still a long path to having a major impact on the treatment of cancers in individuals."
Q2: How long do you think it will be before a universal cancer vaccine is made?
Wang: "Generally speaking, every one of us is hoping for a universal cancer vaccine that can treat or prevent different types of cancers. However, practically, personalized cancer vaccines are more likely to cross the finish line because of the higher specificity and thus less off-target effects. With more success of personalized cancer vaccines, the researchers, clinicians, and the patient community will hopefully gain more confidence in cancer vaccines. At that stage, the goal of developing a universal cancer vaccine will be more reachable."
Braun: "When most people think of vaccines, they think of 'preventive' vaccines—the kind that children and adults typically receive to prevent or lessen the impact of certain infectious diseases. While there are some of those efforts in cancer as well, the majority of efforts are focused on 'therapeutic' vaccines, which are used to try to treat cancer once it develops. Most cancer vaccines try to 'steer' the immune system to attack a patient's cancer, which makes it very difficult to create a universal vaccine. In this study, the research team proposes a major general form of vaccination—the idea that the vaccination itself, somewhat irrespective of what it is targeting, might stimulate the immune system enough to attack cancer. It is a very intriguing idea, but would need to be tested very carefully in clinical studies."
Q3: Can you foresee any challenges in the development of a cancer vaccine? If so, what are they?
Wang: "Various types of cancer vaccines including neoantigen mRNA vaccines, dendritic cell vaccines, tumor exosome vaccines, nanomaterial vaccines, and biomaterial scaffold vaccines are being tested in clinical trials at the moment. The challenge largely lies in the balance of therapeutic benefits and safety, and varies for each vaccine platform. One dramatic challenge, in my opinion, is the overwhelming bar to pursuing the clinical translation of promising cancer vaccines. Very few researchers have the resources and support needed to push forward a clinical trial on cancer vaccine."
Braun: "Cancer vaccines hold tremendous promise to 'steer' the immune system to attack cancer cells, but there are a number of open questions. What are the best targets for the vaccine, or are more 'universal' vaccines possible? In what setting would a vaccine be most effective? What other types of treatments should be given together with the vaccine? In the coming years, it will be critical to answer these questions while also having definitive clinical studies to prove that cancer vaccines help patients to live longer."
