Immunotherapy has great great potential for fighting cancer, but controlling it is difficult. At University of Michigan investigators have developed an approach that uses specially designed nanodiscs to train the immune system to attack tumors. The nanodiscs, made of synthetic high density lipoproteins, contain neoantigens, particles which trigger an immune response, of a specific tumor. These are delivered into the body to train immune system T-cells to attack that type of cancer and prevent its recurrence.
The researchers, reporting in journal Nature Materials, tested the new technology on mice suffering from melanoma and colon cancers. They showed that a full 27% of T-cells in the mice got to work fighting the tumors after the introduction of the nanodiscs. The team also coupled the therapy with techniques already used to amplify T-cell activity, achieving complete tumor reduction within ten days in nearly all the mice. To evaluate long term benefits of the nanodiscs, ten weeks after the initial treatment they injected the healed mice with cells from their former tumors. The immune system immediately responded and swiftly killed the cancer cells.
Study in Nature Materials: Designer vaccine nanodiscs for personalized cancer immunotherapy…