Cell: The intravenous cancer vaccine is satisfactory

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, report that an experimental therapeutic cancer vaccine induced two different, satisfactory immune system responses that led to significant tumor regression
in mice.

The researchers found that intravenous vaccines increased the number of cytotoxic T cells capable of penetrating and attacking tumor cells and activated the innate immune system
by inducing type I interferon.
The innate immune response alters the tumor microenvironment and counteracts the power to inhibit the
action of T cells.
Mice injected with the vaccine by dermal injection (subcutaneous administration) did not see changes in
the tumor microenvironment.

This approach, dubbed "vax-innate" by the scientific team, achieves an important goal
in the search for more effective cancer immunotherapy vaccines.
The study showed that intravenous vaccines enhance T cell immunity by overcoming tumor-induced immunosuppressive activity
.
The candidate vaccine could also be given intravenously to people
already receiving tumor-specific T cell therapy, the researchers said.
The researchers note that it can also improve tumor control
by increasing the number of T cells and altering the tumor microenvironment to function better.

The experimental vaccine, called SNAPvax, was designed
by Robert Seder, M.
D.
, and colleagues at the NIAID Vaccine Research Center (VRC) and collaborators at Vaccitech North America, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Vaccitech announced plans to advance the SNAPvax platform for the treatment of human papillomavirus-related cancers
in 2023.