A new cancer vaccine, tested in mice and monkeys, has been shown to be able to break down the defenses that tumors put in place to protect themselves from immune system attacks by blocking diseased cells.
The results pave the way for the possibility of developing a universal vaccine, since the new therapy can overcome the different variations that occur in each patient.
The study, published in the journal Nature, was coordinated by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, both of Boston, and indicates the need for new trials that would make it possible to start studies in humans as well.
Most cancer vaccines target specific proteins (antigens) found on the surface of cancer cells, with the intent of helping the immune system recognize and attack them.
However, the ability of these antigens to stimulate an immune response is unique to each individual, making it difficult to develop an effective vaccine for everyone.
Furthermore, tumors often manage to escape attacks from immune cells by modifying or masking the antigens of their cells, so that they are not recognized.
Researchers led by Soumya Badrinath took a different approach.
Their cancer vaccine can overcome individual variation because it targets two types of immune cells, T cells and NK (Natural Killer) cells, which cause a general and coordinated attack.
In particular, the vaccine stimulates two proteins called MICA and MICB, which are also present on the surface of cancer cells and whose production increases under stressful conditions, which are able to bind to immune cells and activate them.
Normally, tumors manage to neutralize this threat by breaking down MICA and MICB and dispersing them, but this is where the new vaccine comes into play:
it prevents cancer cells from getting rid of the two proteins and thus makes it much easier for the T and NK cells of the immune system to be activated.
The results indicate that the therapy is able to promote protective immunity against tumors, even against those with mutations that normally escape the body's natural defenses.
In preliminary tests, conducted on mice and rhesus macaque specimens, the vaccine proved effective and safe.
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