Scientists at the University of Florida have made an exciting step toward developing a universal vaccine that could help the immune system fight many types of cancer.
In a recent study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, researchers showed that an experimental mRNA vaccine helped boost the effects of existing immunotherapy drugs in mice.
The combination led to a strong response from the immune system, attacking tumors that usually resist treatment.
What’s surprising is how the vaccine works. Instead of targeting a specific protein in the tumor, the vaccine simply wakes up the immune system as if it were fighting a virus. This strong immune reaction makes the tumors more responsive to treatment.
The key seems to be a protein called PD-L1, which becomes more active inside the tumor after vaccination. This makes the tumor more visible to the immune system, allowing drugs called checkpoint inhibitors to work more effectively.
Dr. Elias Sayour, the senior author of the study and a pediatric cancer doctor at UF Health, said the results show a new path forward in treating cancer. Instead of relying on surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, this approach focuses on teaching the body’s own immune system to fight tumors.
Sayour has been working for years to create advanced cancer vaccines using mRNA and lipid nanoparticles—the same technology used in many COVID-19 vaccines.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is a natural molecule found in all cells. It carries instructions to make proteins. In this case, researchers use synthetic mRNA to trigger the immune system into action.
Last year, Sayour’s team made headlines when their personalized mRNA vaccine helped four human patients with glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, develop strong immune responses. The vaccine was made using each patient’s own tumor cells.
In this new study, the team tested a more general type of mRNA vaccine. Instead of designing it for each patient, they created a version that could work for anyone by simply boosting the immune response.
When combined with a common immunotherapy drug called a PD-1 inhibitor, the results were powerful—even in cases of melanoma that usually resist treatment. PD-1 inhibitors are a type of antibody that help the immune system recognize cancer cells as dangerous.
The researchers also tried the mRNA vaccine by itself in mouse models of skin, bone, and brain cancers. In some cases, the vaccine alone caused the tumors to shrink or disappear.
This suggests that the vaccine can sometimes work on its own without any other drug. The key idea is that by giving the immune system a strong push—like during a viral infection—the vaccine helps T cells (a type of immune cell) become active and start fighting cancer.
Dr. Duane Mitchell, a co-author of the study, explained that this may be the start of a new idea in cancer treatment. So far, cancer vaccines have either focused on a common target shared by many patients, or on a personal target from a specific tumor.
This new research suggests a third option: using a strong immune-stimulating vaccine that doesn’t need to match the cancer exactly, but still helps the immune system fight it.
The goal now is to improve the vaccine and test it in humans. If it works as well in people as it does in mice, it could lead to an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine—one that could help many patients without needing to be custom-made.
The team hopes to move forward to clinical trials as quickly as possible. If successful, this approach could become a powerful new tool in the fight against cancer.
If you care about cancer, please read studies about Research finds a new cause of cancer growth and findings of Scientists find the missing link between autoimmune diseases and blood cancer.
For more about cancer, please read studies about A common blood thinner can help fight cancer and findings of Heavy alcohol drinking is common in cancer patients.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
