The peculiarity of the new bacterial vaccine is its ability to trigger and coordinate all links of the immune system to activate an antitumor immune response, the vaccine developers from Columbia University report . Experiments have shown that the new vaccine is more effective than therapeutic anticancer vaccines based on peptides.
The bacterial vaccine is personalized for a specific tumor, since each case is unique and it is important to take into account the presence of certain genetic mutations. Scientists reprogrammed bacteria to teach the immune system to attack target mutations to cope with cancer.
Experiments on mouse models showed that the vaccine recruited a wide range of immune cells and successfully suppressed the growth of primary and metastatic cancers - melanoma and intestinal tumors, and also prevented relapse. High safety of the treatment was noted.
In future clinical trials, scientists plan to develop bacterial vaccines for each individual patient. Despite the personalized approach, using bacteria will be simpler and faster than other vaccine platforms, so patients will be able to receive treatment as quickly as possible.