Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School have developed lipid nanoparticles that carry two immunostimulatory agents, called “super-advant”, which can be administered with tumor antigens or lined with cancer cells.
PHOTO Cancer Vaccine: Adevărul (Archive)
The system combines the Agonists of the Sting Road and the TLR4 receiver to promote the synergistic production of type I interferons and other pro -inflammatory cytokines in the cells that have antigen. These nanoparticles are small in size, about 30-60 nanometers, which allows them to quickly drain to the lymph nodes and to be efficiently absorbed by dendritic cells, writes Mediafax.
The system has been successfully tested on multiple tumor patterns
The study, published in the scientific journal Cell Reports, tested the system on several models of aggressive mice, including melanoma, pancreatic cancer and negative triple breast cancer.
The results were remarkable. For melanoma, 69% of vaccinated mice rejected tumors. In the case of pancreatic cancer, 88% of vaccinated mice eliminated tumors, and for a negative triple breast cancer, 75% of mice rejected the tumor challenge.
Nanoparticles have promoted the growth of polyfunctional T cells, as well as B cells, creating a large immune response against cancer. All vaccinated mice that survived the initial challenge were left without tumors and after a second systemic challenge with cancer cells.
The system was also tested on human cells from three independent donors, confirming its ability to promote significant interferon production, which extends the relevance and potential for clinical application of this discovery.
The researchers stressed that the platform is modular and customizable, and can be adapted for different types of cancer without the need to sequen the whole genome or complex bioinformatic screening.
Clinical studies on people
Although the results are promising, scientists admit that additional studies are needed for the complete assessment of safety and efficacy on larger animal models before moving on to clinical studies.
The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioinginery and the Institute for Applied Sciences.
