Cancer Vaccine Breakthrough: Harvard Scientists Develop way to develop to kill Cancer with tumour cells

In what can be termed as a major breakthrough, Harvard Researchers have developed a way to harnessing tumour cells themselves into a vaccine that can kill cancer and prevent recurrence

Investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital have developed a cancer vaccine that can eliminate established tumors and train the immune system so that it can prevent cancer from recurring.

The team tested their dual-action, cancer-killing vaccine in an advanced mouse model of the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma, with promising results. Findings are published in Science Translational Medicine.

“Our team has pursued a simple idea: to take cancer cells and transform them into cancer killers and vaccines,” said corresponding author Khalid Shah, director of the Center for Stem Cell and Translational Immunotherapy and the vice chair of research in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Brigham and faculty at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Stem Cell Institute. “Using gene engineering, we are repurposing cancer cells to develop a therapeutic that kills tumor cells and stimulates the immune system to both destroy primary tumors and prevent cancer.”

They have used the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to transform living tumor cells into tumor cell killing agent. Additionally, the engineered tumor cells were designed so that they can be easily remembered and spotted by the immune system, enabling a long-term anti-tumor response.

Testing it on a type of brain cancer in mice, the doctors found it safe, applicable, and efficacious. They researchers believe that their therapeutic strategy would be applicable to a wider range of solid tumors. However, they noted that further investigations of its applications are necessary.