Australian researchers’ cancer vaccine shows early promise

Biotech News: Mater University of Queensland Researchers have achieved publication in the highly-ranked journal, Clinical and Translational Immunology detailing their work on a new cancer vaccine, which have shown promising signs in preclinical studies.

The vaccine was developed with support from Worldwide Cancer Research in the United Kingdom, and Mater Foundation, and could potentially be used to treat a variety of blood cancers and malignancies.

Lead Researcher Associate Professor Kristen Radford said this was a major breakthrough when it came to cancer vaccinations.

“We are hoping this could be used to treat blood cancers (myeloid leukaemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, paediatric leukaemias) plus solid malignancies including breast, lung, renal, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers, and glioblastoma,” she said.

“The team have developed a new vaccine, comprised of human antibodies fused with tumour-specific protein, and are investigating its capacity to target human cells while activating the memory of the tumour cells.”

Associate Professor Radford explains that the vaccine offers several key advantages over existing cancer vaccines that have already shown promise in early clinical trials.

“First, it can be produced as an ‘off the shelf’ clinical grade formulation, which circumvents the financial and logistical issues associated with patient-specific vaccines,” she said.

“Second, this prototype vaccine precisely targets the key tumour cells required for the initiation of tumour specific immune responses, thereby maximising potential efficacy while minimising potential side effects.

“We are very happy to see our research to be published in this prestigious journal, and we hope our continued work towards finding a safe and effective cancer vaccine will benefit cancer patients in the future.”