Nanoparticle Vaccine that Prevents Cancer in MiceCancer nanoparticle.  ©  University of Massachusetts Amherst

A team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst has developed a nanoparticle vaccine that successfully prevents melanoma, pancreatic, and triple-negative breast cancer in mice.

Depending on the cancer type, up to 88% of vaccinated mice stayed tumor-free. The vaccine also reduced—or even completely stopped—the spread of cancer.

In earlier studies, lead researcher Atukorale showed that her nanoparticle-based drug could shrink and eliminate tumors in mice. Now, her team has proven it can also work as a preventive treatment.

In their first test, the researchers combined the nanoparticles with known melanoma peptides (antigens—similar to the inactive virus parts used in flu shots). This triggered immune cells called T cells to recognize and attack melanoma. Three weeks later, the mice were exposed to melanoma cells.

Remarkably, 80% of the vaccinated mice remained tumor-free and survived the full 250-day study. In contrast, all unvaccinated mice—or those given traditional, non-nanoparticle vaccines—developed tumors and died within 35 days.

“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,” says Prabhani Atukorale, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst and corresponding author on the paper.

source University of Massachusetts Amherst