Researchers move closer to a universal cancer vaccine

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A universal cancer vaccine – what once appeared like a pipe dream – could also be inching closer to becoming reality. 

On Friday, University of Florida researchers said findings from a brand new study could lead on to the event of a universal shot that may jumpstart the immune system to fight cancer. The study in mice, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, showed that an experimental mRNA vaccine boosted the tumor-fighting effects of a standard cancer drug called immune checkpoint inhibitors. 

The vaccine just isn’t designed for a selected virus or cancer cells, but engineered to “get up” the immune system against the disease, “spurring it to reply as if fighting a virus,” in accordance with a UF release.

“What we found is through the use of a vaccine designed not to focus on cancer specifically but quite to stimulate a robust immunologic response, we could elicit a really strong anticancer response,” Dr. Duane Mitchell, a co-author of the study and professor of neurosurgery on the university’s College of Medicine, said in the discharge.

That is unlike current approaches to cancer vaccines, which involve finding a goal expressed by many cancer patients or, within the case of Moderna and Merck, developing personalized vaccines tailored to every patient’s specific tumor.

The universal vaccine has the potential for use broadly across cancer patients, “even possibly leading us to an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine,” Mitchell said. 

The UF researchers are still working to copy the findings in humans. In the event that they do, a one-size-fits-all vaccine could provide a substitute for surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. 

Here’s how the vaccine works: The mRNA shot essentially tells the body to provide certain proteins that stimulate the immune system, including one called PD-L1, which is usually found on the surface or within cancer cells. Those cells often use PD-L1 to cover from immune attacks. 

But by boosting PD-L1, the vaccine can actually make tumors more vulnerable to immune checkpoint inhibitors that block that protein, helping the immune system recognize and destroy the cancer. 

The study showed promising results on treatment-resistant tumors in skin cancers by combining the mRNA vaccine with a monoclonal antibody, a standard immunotherapy drug that attempts to alert the immune system that a tumor is foreign and ought to be attacked.

It also showed positive results when tested on mouse skin, bone and brain cancers as a solo treatment. In some cases, the tumors were eliminated entirely.

“This paper describes a really unexpected and exciting remark: that even a vaccine not specific to any particular tumor or virus – as long as it’s an mRNA vaccine – could lead on to tumor-specific effects,” said senior writer Dr. Elias Sayour, a UF Health pediatric oncologist, in a release.

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We’re just days away from the height of digital health earnings season, and this quarter is certain to be an interesting one. 

The 2 firms that went public earlier this yr, Hinge Health and Omada Health, will report results for the primary time since their debut. And since President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending bill passed and his Aug. 1 tariff deadline is approaching, we’ll get some insight into how digital health firms have been operating against a volatile macroeconomic and policy backdrop.   

Listed below are among the reports CNBC will likely be expecting:

Hinge Health – Aug. 5