A next-generation cancer vaccine has shown stunning results in mice, preventing up to 88% of aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers by harnessing dual-pathway nanoparticles that train the immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells, El.kz reports citingNew Atlas. 

Melanoma, pancreatic cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) are each serious clinical challenges due to how common or aggressive they are and how poorly they often respond to treatment. Which is why scientists are determined to develop an effective treatment for all of them.

A new study led by University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst researchers has brought us a step closer to achieving this, with their immune-stimulating nanoparticle-based vaccine that effectively prevented melanoma, pancreatic cancer and TNBC in mice.

“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 assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst and the study’s corresponding author.

The vaccine combines two immune-stimulating molecules (adjuvants) in a tiny lipid nanoparticle that enhances both innate and adaptive immune responses.

The innate immune system acts as the body’s first line of defense, responding quickly and non-specifically to invaders using cells that release inflammatory signals. The adaptive immune system takes longer to activate but provides a targeted, long-lasting response, training T cells and B cells to recognize and remember specific threats.

Together, they form a coordinated defense: the innate system alerts and activates the adaptive system, which then delivers precise and durable immunity.

The researchers envision their vaccine being used as both a treatment and a preventive, and as an approach to treating multiple cancer types.

“The real core technology that our company has been founded on is this nanoparticle and this treatment approach,” Kane said. “This is a platform that Prabhani developed. The startup lets us pursue these translational efforts with the ultimate goal of improving patients’ lives.”