"By engineering these nanoparticles to activate the immune system via multi-pathway activation that combines with cancer-specific antigens, we can prevent tumor growth with remarkable survival rates," said corresponding author of the study, Prabhani Atukorale, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Riccio College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in a press release.
The researchers had previously shown that the same nanoparticle-based drug design could reduce and eliminate tumors in mice. In the current study, they investigated whether the approach could be used to prevent cancer as well.
To do so, they first combined the nanoparticle system with well-studied melanoma peptides. Mice vaccinated with the formulation were then exposed to melanoma three weeks later. They found that 80% of mice that received the nanoparticle vaccine remained tumor-free and survived the entire 250-day study period. Meanwhile, all of the mice given traditional vaccines or no vaccine at all developed tumors and died within 35 days.
The researchers next adapted the nanoparticle vaccine for treating other forms of cancer, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and triple-negative breast cancer cells. Ultimately, 88% of mice with pancreatic cancer, 75% with breast cancer, and 69% with melanoma remained tumor-free. All mice that remained tumor-free also resisted metastasis after systemic exposure to cancer cells.
"The tumor-specific T-cell responses that we are able to generate -- that is really the key behind the survival benefit," said first author of the study, Griffin Kane, postdoctoral research associate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in a press release, "There is really intense immune activation when you treat innate immune cells with this formulation, which triggers these cells to present antigens and prime tumor-killing T cells."
The researchers hope their platform will be used for both therapeutic and preventative regimens, especially for those at high cancer risk.
Sources: Science Daily, Cell Reports Medicine
