Daijiworld Media Network – Florida

Florida, Jul 18: In a groundbreaking development, scientists at the University of Florida have created an experimental mRNA vaccine that boosts the immune system’s ability to fight tumours — potentially opening the door to a universal cancer treatment. The study, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, demonstrates remarkable antitumor effects in mice when the vaccine is combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a common class of cancer immunotherapy drugs.

What sets this vaccine apart is its unique approach. Unlike traditional cancer vaccines that target specific tumour proteins, this mRNA vaccine mimics a viral infection to activate the body’s immune defences — without the need for tumour-specific targeting.
Lead researcher Dr. Elias Sayour, a paediatric oncologist at UF Health and principal investigator at UF's RNA Engineering Laboratory, described the discovery as “unexpected and exciting.”

“This finding is proof of concept that mRNA vaccines — even when not specifically designed to attack a particular cancer — can trigger a tumour-specific immune response,” said Dr. Sayour. “This opens the door for developing universal, off-the-shelf cancer vaccines.”

The vaccine works by boosting the expression of a protein called PD-L1 within tumours, which paradoxically makes them more responsive to treatment when used in conjunction with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Dr. Duane Mitchell, a co-author of the study, called this a “third paradigm” in cancer vaccine science. “By using a vaccine to trigger a broad immunologic reaction, we observed a powerful anticancer effect — even though the vaccine wasn’t tailored to cancer cells specifically,” he explained.

This research builds on previous clinical work by Sayour’s team, which last year demonstrated in a small human trial that a personalised mRNA vaccine could effectively stimulate the immune system to attack glioblastoma, a deadly brain tumour.

The current vaccine, however, is a more generalised formulation — similar in design to the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines — and could be produced rapidly for broader use.

Supported by the National Institutes of Health and other institutions, the study offers a potentially transformative step toward developing universal cancer vaccines capable of treating multiple, hard-to-cure cancers. Human trials are the next critical milestone.