Groundbreaking 'super vaccine' could stop cancer in its tracks

A 'super vaccine' could give people immunity against cancer before the disease grows and spreads. 

Scientists in Massachusetts say their experimental jab prevents several aggressive cancers. 

This includes melanoma, pancreatic, and triple–negative breast cancers.

The 'groundbreaking' vaccine contains tiny nanoparticles made of fatty molecules that deliver two 'adjuvants' – substances that boost the body's immune response. 

In lab trials, up to 88 per cent of mice injected with nanoparticles remained tumour–free, depending on the cancer type. 

The vaccine also reduced – and in some cases completely prevented – the spread of cancer throughout the body. 

So far the vaccine has only been tested in mice. 

It's unclear when the treatment could be available for humans, although this is the goal the team are working towards.

The experiments at UMass Amherst first combined nanoparticles with an 'antigen' that triggers an immune response to cancer. 

Mice receiving the jab were then exposed to melanoma, the tumour type that can spread to any organ.

Impressively, 80 per cent of the mice that received the nanoparticle vaccine remained tumour–free and survived for 250 days. 

In contrast, all mice that received traditional vaccines or no vaccine got tumours and died within 35 days.

Researchers also found the injection stopped cancer from spreading to the lungs, unlike other mice that didn't receive the treatment. 

Next, the team tested a second version of the vaccine consisting of nanoparticles and another antigen called tumour lysate. 

Mice vaccinated with this were later exposed to melanoma, triple–negative breast cancer cells, or the most common type of pancreatic cancer (PDAC). 

In all, 88 per cent of mice with pancreatic cancer, 75 per cent with breast cancer, and 69 per cent with melanoma stayed tumour–free. 

How do vaccines work? 

Regardless of the disease, vaccines contain two primary components – the antigen and the adjuvant. 

The antigen is the piece of the disease–causing pathogen (in this study, cancer cells) that the immune system can be trained to target. 

The adjuvant is a substance that activates the immune system to recognize the antigen, treat it as a foreign intruder and eliminate it. 

Vaccination has emerged recently as a 'powerful frontier' in the development of effective cancer therapies by training immune cells to recognise and eliminate tumor cells, but getting the required efficacy and potency has remained a hurdle, the experts say.

All mice that remained tumour–free after vaccination also resisted the development of secondary malignant growths when exposed to cancer cells.

Study author Prabhani Atukorale, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UMass Amherst, had previously shown that her nanoparticle–based drug design could shrink or eliminate tumours in mice. 

But the new findings, published in Cell Reports Medicine, reveal that this approach can also prevent cancer from forming in the first place. 

The researchers say that their design could be used across multiple cancer types, not just the ones tested in this study. 

While the team is working towards developing a treatment for humans, they caution that their work is still in early stages. 

Researchers have formed a startup called NanoVax Therapeutics which has the 'ultimate goal of improving patients' lives' using nanoparticle treatments. 

'The results that we have are super exciting, and we're really looking forward to pushing forward to the next steps,' co–author Griffin Kane at at UMass Amherst told 404 Media.  

'But I think that the translation of these types of therapies from preclinical mouse models to the clinic is a very humbling experience for a lot of people and teams.' 

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Scientists REVERSE Alzheimer's in mice using nanoparticles

The study offers yet further hope that nanoparticles will allow doctors tread new ground in terms of health treatments. 

Earlier this week, another set of researchers revealed they used nanoparticles to reverse Alzheimer's disease in mice – and it could soon be effective in humans in the 'next few years'.

According to this team in Barcelona, their nanoparticles help the brain's protective barrier recover its normal function when it becomes damaged by toxic waste proteins. 

Kristin Omberg, biologist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who wasn't involved with the studies, said nanoparticles 'will change the world'. 

'In the future, nanotechnology may allow doctors to better treat brain diseases and disorders like cancer and dementia because nanoparticles pass easily through the blood-brain barrier,' she said in a piece for The Conversation. 

'Nanoparticles may also allow for human performance enhancements, ranging from better eyesight to soldiers engineered to be more effective in combat.' 

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?

What is breast cancer?

It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.

When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called 'invasive'. Some people are diagnosed with 'carcinoma in situ', where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.

Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.

Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.

The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.

What causes breast cancer?

A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply 'out of control'.

Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.

What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign. 

The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

• Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
• Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.

If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.

How is breast cancer treated?

Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.

• Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
• Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
• Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
• Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the 'female' hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.

How successful is treatment?

The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.

The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 71 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.

For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000