Healthy Returns: Researchers move closer to a universal cancer vaccine

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A universal cancer vaccine – what once seemed like a pipe dream – may be inching closer to becoming reality. 

On Friday, University of Florida researchers said findings from a new study could lead to the development of a universal shot that can jumpstart the immune system to fight cancer. The study in mice, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, showed that an experimental mRNA vaccine boosted the tumor-fighting effects of a common cancer drug called immune checkpoint inhibitors. 

The vaccine is not designed for a specific virus or cancer cells, but engineered to “wake up” the immune system against the disease, “spurring it to respond as if fighting a virus,” according to a UF release.

“What we found is by using a vaccine designed not to target cancer specifically but rather to stimulate a strong immunologic response, we could elicit a very strong anticancer reaction,” Dr. Duane Mitchell, a co-author of the study and professor of neurosurgery at the university’s College of Medicine, said in the release.

That’s unlike current approaches to cancer vaccines, which involve finding a target expressed by many cancer patients or, in the case of Moderna and Merck, developing personalized vaccines tailored to each patient’s specific tumor.

The universal vaccine has the potential to be used broadly across cancer patients, “even possibly leading us to an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine,” Mitchell said. 

The UF researchers are still working to replicate the findings in humans. If they do, a one-size-fits-all vaccine could provide an alternative to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. 

Here’s how the vaccine works: The mRNA shot essentially tells the body to produce certain proteins that stimulate the immune system, including one called PD-L1, which is often found on the surface or inside of cancer cells. Those cells often use PD-L1 to hide from immune attacks. 

But by boosting PD-L1, the vaccine can actually make tumors more vulnerable to immune checkpoint inhibitors that block that protein, helping the immune system recognize and destroy the cancer. 

The study showed promising results on treatment-resistant tumors in skin cancers by combining the mRNA vaccine with a monoclonal antibody, a common immunotherapy drug that attempts to alert the immune system that a tumor is foreign and should be attacked.

It also showed positive results when tested on mouse skin, bone and brain cancers as a solo treatment. In some cases, the tumors were eliminated entirely.

“This paper describes a very unexpected and exciting observation: that even a vaccine not specific to any particular tumor or virus – so long as it is an mRNA vaccine – could lead to tumor-specific effects,” said senior author Dr. Elias Sayour, a UF Health pediatric oncologist, in a release.

Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

We’re just days away from the peak of digital health earnings season, and this quarter is sure to be an interesting one. 

The two companies that went public earlier this year, Hinge Health and Omada Health, will report results for the first time since their debut. And since President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending bill passed and his Aug. 1 tariff deadline is approaching, we’ll get some insight into how digital health companies have been operating against a volatile macroeconomic and policy backdrop.   

Here are some of the reports CNBC will be watching for:

Hinge Health – Aug. 5