MIT Develops Flexible Platform for Personalised Cancer Vaccines
A new method using a harmless virus could allow vaccines to be adapted to the specific proteins found in each patient's tumour, according to MIT researchers.
Illustration: AI-generated image
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have unveiled a new way to build cancer vaccines that could be tailored to the individual characteristics of a patient's tumour. The approach, described in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials, uses a modified virus that is harmless to humans to deliver tumour-specific proteins to the immune system.
The team, led by Professor Angela Belcher, engineered a bacteriophage called M13 – a virus that infects bacteria but not people – to carry antigens on its surface. Antigens are proteins that the immune system can recognise and use to identify cancer cells. By changing the antigens, the same platform could be adapted for different types of cancer.
One key advance is the ability to control precisely how much antigen is attached to each viral structure. The researchers found that the concentration of antigen directly influences the strength of the immune response. In tests on mice, vaccines with a higher antigen load (35% of the viral surface) offered better protection than those with only 6%.
Another advantage is that the bacteriophage's own DNA may stimulate the immune system, reducing the need for a separate adjuvant – a substance often added to vaccines to boost the response. Belcher explained that the system allows control over the length, quantity, and distribution of antigens, as well as the amount of adjuvant, all of which can be programmed genetically.
In experiments, mice vaccinated with a higher antigen concentration were less likely to develop tumours after exposure to melanoma cells expressing the same antigen. The team also tested a vaccine containing a neoantigen called ADPGK, linked to colon cancer, and observed a reduced tumour risk in a mouse model.
The researchers hope the platform will eventually enable personalised vaccines that help the immune system target each patient's specific cancer. Lead author Shengnan Huang noted that different antigens can be inserted for different cancers. The technology has not yet been tested in humans, and further studies are needed before clinical use.
