Nat Biomed Eng: researchers have developed a new vaccine that may cure leukemia

February 16, 2020 / Biovalley BIOON / -- acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a kind of fatal blood cancer originated from bone marrow, most of the patients died within five years Chemotherapy has been the standard treatment for AML for more than 40 years Although it often causes cancer to enter remission stage, it rarely completely eliminates cancer cells, which leads to recurrence in nearly half of patients Active post remission therapy, such as high-dose chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation, can reduce the chance of recurrence, but the health status of many AML patients is not enough to tolerate Now, a new study proposes an alternative therapy that may completely eliminate AML cells: an injectable, biomaterial based vaccine that, when combined with standard chemotherapy, enables mice to recover completely and permanently from AML and to be immune to it The study was conducted by researchers from the Weiss Institute of bioengineering, Harvard University, the John A Paulson School of engineering and Applied Sciences (SEA) and the stem cell Institute (SCI), and was published in the journal Nature biological engineering Photo source: Nat Biomed eng In this study, using an AML mouse model, the researchers demonstrated that a macroporous biomaterial vaccine that simultaneously transports cytokine colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), toll like receptor-9 agonist, and one or more leukemia antigens (peptide antigens, cytolytic products, or antigens from AML cells) can successfully induce local immune cell infiltration and activate dendritic cells, evoking a Strong anti AML reaction The researchers also demonstrated that biomaterial based vaccines prevent the growth and reproduction of AML cells during prevention and combined chemotherapy, and eradicate the formed AML without a clear vaccine antigen Therefore, the researchers believe that AML immunization based on biomaterials can induce strong immune response, consume AML cells and prevent disease recurrence Reference: Shah, N.J., najibi, A.J., Shih, T et al A biomedical based vaccine killing dual tumour specific responses against acute myeloid leukaemia NAT Biomed eng (2020) doi: 10.1038/s41551-019-0503-3