14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at the Harvard University were recently able to develop a new fingernail-sized implant that they say can treat cancer tumors inside mice models, in the lab. The cancer vaccine is loaded unto this substrate, which then carries it inside the body, the team details. Their achievement is the first such device ever to be able to cure mammals of their cancer tumors completely. Details of the amazing work appear in the latest issue of the top journal Science Translational Medicine. The Harvard group was composed of bioengineers and immunologists at the university.
The way the new system acts is by reprogramming the immune system to fight against cancer. In usual cases, this does not happen, as cells that should destroy cancer believe the affected cells are part of the body, and thus allow them to multiply. In the Harvard approach, plastic disks are impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and are then inserted under the skin. This exposes immune system cells to the antigens, and forces them to pick up the trail of the tumor. After that, the “standard” immune response kick in, red and white blood cells begin communicating between them and attack the affected sites together. The method proved effective for eradicating melanoma tumors in mice.
“This work shows the power of applying engineering approaches to immunology. By marrying engineering and immunology through this collaboration with Glenn Dranoff at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we've taken a major step toward the design of effective cancer vaccines,” says David J. Mooney. The expert is the Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He also holds an appointment with the Wyss Institute for Biologically-Inspired Engineering.
“Inserted anywhere under the skin – much like the implantable contraceptives that can be placed in a woman's arm – the implants activate an immune response that destroys tumor cells. This approach is able to simultaneously upregulate the destructive immune response to the tumor while downregulating the arm of the immune system that leads to tolerance. In cancer, this latter arm is typically a limiting feature of immunotherapies, since it can extinguish vaccine activity and afford tumors a degree of protection,” the expert adds.