New Ground Breaking Cancer Vaccine

Cancer is one of the biggest causes of premature death in the UK — with the statistics showing both good and bad news. The good news is that survival rates are going up — with just over 70% of people now surviving for at least one-year post diagnosis and 50% of cancer patients surviving 10 years or more.

Unfortunately, more of us are being diagnosed with cancer than ever before — with estimates putting the number of people diagnosed with cancer at 1000 people per day by the end of 2016. However, Cancer Research UK estimates that 40% of cancer cases in the UK are preventable — with lifestyle playing a large part as healthy eating, drinking and living all contribute to reducing the risk of succumbing to cancer.

The reason people are living longer is down to two factors — earlier diagnosis and better treatment. But researchers and doctors are keen to prevent people getting cancer in the first place. And new research published in the journal Nature — Systemic RNA delivery to dendritic cells exploits antiviral defence for cancer immunotherapy — gives hope to researchers seeking to develop a vaccine for cancer.

Trojan horse — not just for Greek invaders

The German researchers have found a way to sneak genetic material from cancer cells into immune cells that can then code for antigens which in turn attack cancer cells — rather like the Greeks using a Trojan horse to attack Troy.

Usually our immune system doesn’t fight cancerous cells as it cannot tell the difference between the cancer cells and healthy cells — so the researchers had to find a way to differentiate the cancer cells from healthy cells. They looked for a way that they could deliver cancer cell RNA (ribonucleic acid that codes and helps express genes in the body) to dendritic cells — cells which look out for foreign invaders in the body — as these cells could then target the fight on cancer cells.

Hiding the RNA

The team found that they could deliver the RNA by making nanoparticles of RNA encased in fatty acids carrying a positive charge. They extracted some RNA from cancer cells and made nanoparticles containing the cancer RNA using a fatty acid coating. By adjusting the charge on the lipids and the ratio of lipid to RNA — stable nanoparticles were made that were delivered safely into the targeted dendritic cells.

High performance liquid chromatography was used in the development of the nanoparticles — particularly in the measurement of the lipid concentration. Just one of the many ways that chromatography is found at the forefront of drug discovery and development as discussed in the article, Improving Quantification of Protein Therapeutics by Standardising the Sample Preparation Approach to LC-MS/MS Analysis: High-sensitivity Bioanalysis of Infliximab, and Total Antibody Quantification.

When in the body, the dendritic cells made cancer antigens which triggered a positive immune response against cancer cells. The initial results are promising and although there is a long way to go — a cancer vaccine could be on the horizon.