researchers at the University of Georgia Cancer Center have synthesized a carbohydrate-based vaccine that - in mice - has successfully triggered a strong immune response to cancer cells. It activates all three components of the immune system to reduce tumor size by an average of 80 percent.
Researchers from the University of Georgia and the Mayo Clinic in Arizona have developed a vaccine that dramatically reduces tumors in a mouse model that mimics 90 percent of human breast and pancreatic cancer cases—including those resistant to common treatments.
The finding, published in the October issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology, brings the scientists one step closer to a much-sought-after "cancer vaccine.""In mice we can elicit very strong antibody responses and we have shown that the antibody responses are functional - that they can kill cancer cells," said lead author Geert-Jan Boons, Franklin professor of chemistry and researcher in UGA's Complex Carbohydrate Research Center.
...Their optimized vaccine includes a tumor-associated carbohydrate that triggers the immune system's B cells, a part of a protein that triggers the immune system's T cells and a linker molecule that stimulates the production of generalized immune components known as cytokines.The results of their three-pronged approach were astounding, particularly with respect to a critical component of the immune system known as IgG.
"When we tested our best vaccine we got really, really fabulous antibody levels that have never been seen before," Boons said. "The levels of IgG antibody production were 100 times better than with conventional approaches."
Researchers from the University of Georgia and the Mayo Clinic in Arizona have developed a vaccine that dramatically reduces tumors in a mouse model that mimics 90 percent of human breast and pancreatic cancer cases—including those resistant to common treatments.
“This is the first time that a vaccine has been developed that trains the immune system to distinguish and kill cancer cells based on their different sugar structures on proteins such as MUC1,” Gendler said. “We are especially excited about the fact that MUC1 was recently recognized by the National Cancer Institute as one of the three most important tumor proteins for vaccine development.”
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