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GAINESVILLE, Fla. 鈥� An experimental mRNA vaccine boosted the tumor-fighting effects of immunotherapy in a mouse-model study, bringing researchers one step closer to their goal of developing a universal vaccine to 鈥渨ake up鈥� the immune system against cancer.

, the University of Florida study showed that like a one-two punch, pairing the test vaccine with common anticancer drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors triggered a strong antitumor response.

A surprising element, researchers said, was that they achieved the promising results not by attacking a specific target protein expressed in the tumor, but by simply revving up the immune system 鈥� spurring it to respond as if fighting a virus. They did this by stimulating the expression of a protein called PD-L1 inside of tumors, making them more receptive to treatment. The research was supported by multiple federal agencies and foundations, including the National Institutes of 网红黑料.

Senior author Elias Sayour, M.D., Ph.D., a 网红黑料 pediatric oncologist and the Stop Children's Cancer/Bonnie R. Freeman Professor for Pediatric Oncology Research, said the results reveal a potential future treatment path 鈥� an alternative to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy 鈥� with broad implications for battling many types of treatment-resistant tumors.

鈥淭his paper describes a very unexpected and exciting observation: that even a vaccine not specific to any particular tumor or virus 鈥� so long as it is an mRNA vaccine 鈥� could lead to tumor-specific effects,鈥� said Sayour, principal investigator at the RNA Engineering Laboratory within UF鈥檚 .

鈥淭his finding is a proof of concept that these vaccines potentially could be commercialized as universal cancer vaccines to sensitize the immune system against a patient鈥檚 individual tumor,鈥� said Sayour, a investigator and co-leader of a program in immuno-oncology and microbiome research.

Get information about 网红黑料 brain tumor clinical trials here.

Until now, there have been two main ideas in cancer-vaccine development: To find a specific target expressed in many people with cancer, or to tailor a vaccine that is specific to targets expressed within a patient's own cancer.

鈥淭his study suggests a third emerging paradigm,鈥� said , M.D., Ph.D., a co-author of the paper. 鈥淲hat 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 鈥� even possibly leading us to an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine.鈥�

For more than eight years, Sayour has pioneered high-tech anticancer vaccines by combining lipid nanoparticles and mRNA. Short for messenger RNA, mRNA is found inside every cell 鈥� including tumor cells 鈥� and serves as a blueprint for protein production.

This new study builds upon last year by Sayour鈥檚 lab: In a first-ever human clinical trial, an mRNA vaccine quickly reprogrammed the immune system to attack glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. Among the most impressive findings in the four-patient trial was how quickly the new method 鈥� which used a 鈥渟pecific鈥� or personalized vaccine made using a patient鈥檚 own tumor cells 鈥� spurred a vigorous immune-system response to reject the tumor.

In the latest study, Sayour鈥檚 research team adapted their technology to test a 鈥済eneralized鈥� mRNA vaccine 鈥� meaning it was not aimed at a specific virus or mutated cells of cancer but engineered simply to prompt a strong immune system response. The mRNA formulation was made similarly to the COVID-19 vaccines, rooted in similar technology, but wasn鈥檛 aimed directly at the well-known spike protein of COVID.

In mouse models of melanoma, the team saw promising results in normally treatment-resistant tumors when combining the mRNA formulation with a common immunotherapy drug called a PD-1 inhibitor, a type of monoclonal antibody that attempts to 鈥渆ducate鈥� the immune system that a tumor is foreign, said Sayour, a professor in UF鈥檚 Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Pediatrics in the .

Taking the research a step further, in mouse models of skin, bone and brain cancers, the investigators found beneficial effects when testing a different mRNA formulation as a solo treatment. In some models, the tumors were eliminated entirely.

Sayour and colleagues observed that using an mRNA vaccine to activate immune responses seemingly unrelated to cancer could prompt T cells that weren鈥檛 working before to actually multiply and kill the cancer if the response spurred by the vaccine is strong enough.

Taken together, the study鈥檚 implications are striking, said Mitchell, who directs the and co-directs UF鈥檚 Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy.

鈥淚t could potentially be a universal way of waking up a patient鈥檚 own immune response to cancer,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淎nd that would be profound if generalizable to human studies.鈥�

The results, he said, show potential for a universal cancer vaccine that could activate the immune system and prime it to work in tandem with checkpoint inhibitor drugs to seize upon cancer 鈥� or in some cases, even work on its own to kill cancer.

Now, the research team is working to improve current formulations and move to human clinical trials as rapidly as possible.

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