Universal Cancer vaccine on the horizon

Universal cancer vaccine is on the horizon, after scientists managed to rewire immune cells to fight any type of disease.

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany, developed a potential new therapy, by injecting tiny particles of genetic code into the immune cells and teach them to recognize specific cancers.

Above, Lung cancer cell during replication. Credit National Institutes of Health

From the report in Nature:

Here we show that DCs can be targeted precisely and effectively in vivo using intravenously administered RNA-lipoplexes (RNA-LPX) based on well-known lipid carriers by optimally adjusting net charge, without the need for functionalization of particles with molecular ligands.

Lead author Prof Ugur Sahin, director of Translational Oncology at the University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, said:

“The vaccines are fast and inexpensive to produce, and virtually any tumour antigen can be encoded by RNA. The approach introduced here may be regarded as a universally applicable novel vaccine class for cancer immunotherapy.”

via sciencealert