"In a first-ever human clinical trial, an mRNA cancer vaccine developed at the University of Florida successfully reprogrammed patients’ immune systems to fiercely attack glioblastoma, the most aggressive and lethal brain tumor.
The results in four adult patients mirrored those in 10 pet dog patients suffering from brain tumors whose owners approved of their participation.
The discovery represents a potential new way to recruit the immune system to fight treatment-resistant cancers using an iteration of mRNA technology and lipid nanoparticles, similar to COVID-19 vaccines, but with two key differences: use of a patient’s own tumor cells to create a personalized vaccine, and a newly engineered complex delivery mechanism within the vaccine.
“Instead of us injecting single particles, we’re injecting clusters of particles that are wrapping around each other like onions,” said senior author Elias Sayour, M.D., Ph.D., a UF Health pediatric oncologist who pioneered the new vaccine, which like other immunotherapies attempts to “educate” the immune system that a tumor is foreign.
“These clusters alert the immune system in a much more profound way than single particles would.”
Among the most impressive findings was how quickly the new method spurred a vigorous immune-system response to reject the tumor, said Sayour, principal investigator at the University’s RNA Engineering Laboratory and McKnight Brain Institute investigator who led the multi-institution research team.
“In less than 48 hours, we could see these tumors shifting from what we refer to as ‘cold’—very few immune cells, very silenced immune response—to ‘hot,’ very active immune response,” he said.
“That was very surprising given how quick this happened, and what that told us is we were able to activate the early part of the immune system very rapidly against these cancers, and that’s critical to unlock the later effects of the immune response,” he explained in a video (below).
Glioblastoma is among the most devastating diagnoses, with median survival around 15 months. Current standard of care involves surgery, radiation and some combination of chemotherapy.
The new report, published May 1 in the journal Cell, is the culmination of seven years of promising studies, starting in preclinical mouse models.
In the cohort of four patients, genetic material called RNA was extracted from each patient’s own surgically removed tumor, and then messenger RNA (mRNA)—the blueprint of what is inside every cell, including tumor cells—was amplified and wrapped in the newly designed high-tech packaging of biocompatible lipid nanoparticles, to make tumor cells “look” like a dangerous virus when reinjected into the bloodstream to prompt an immune-system response.
The vaccine was personalized to each patient with a goal of getting the most out of their unique immune system...
While too early in the trial to assess the clinical effects of the vaccine, the patients either lived disease-free longer than expected or survived longer than expected. The 10 pet dogs lived a median of 4.5 months, compared with a median survival of 30-60 days typical for dogs with the condition.
The next step, with support from the Food and Drug Administration and the CureSearch for Children’s Cancer foundation, will be an expanded Phase I clinical trial to include up to 24 adult and pediatric patients to validate the findings. Once an optimal and safe dose is confirmed, an estimated 25 children would participate in Phase 2."
-via Good News Network, May 11, 2024
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-video via University of Florida Health, May 1, 2024
A personalized vaccine for glioblastoma – the most aggressive and fatal type of brain cancer – has extended the survival of four humans in the first clinical trial of its kind.
The newly fashioned medicine works by supplying the immune system with a way to 'recognize' the tumor and an 'instruction manual' for its entire transcriptome. This reveals where each and every gene in the tumor can be turned on or off.
Equipped with such vital information, the immune system can reprogram the cancer's defenses and launch a more successful attack.
FOR AN IDEA MAYBE READER IS A PATISSERIE AND THEY'RE FROM MODERN TIMES SO THEY KNOW SOME DESSERTS THAT DOESNT EXIST? (MOCHI DONUTS BRO😔 I LOVE THEM SM)
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AAA BUT THIS ASK SOOO FREAKING GOOD BROO,
Imagine if you’re just a normal baker in the 21st century’s then one day you’re just in the one piece verse. You’re just trying to live your life in a normal island in the New World beside seeing giants literally ordering a huge ass box of your pastries💀
And I can’t imagine futuristic desert IM VERY SORRY but I can imagine Patisserie! Reader making different kind of sweet around the world from their universe, it will certainly get a lot of attention from all over the New World, ESPECIALLY THE BIG MOM PIRATESS
Aaaa once Big mom tasted one if your sweet she knew that she have to keep you one way or another😈😈
Katakuri would be so hooked on your mochi donuts too dawg, he might just propose to you 😩😩😩
bsd is one of the most shows ever. test your knowledge or try your hand at guessing its plot points in this fun and educational uquiz i have made bc i'm tired of tumblr polls' option+time limit and inability to edit later, but i really like those "guess what didn't happen in x" stuff
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine recently uncovered strong evidence that enriching the air with fragrances improves cognitive performance by strengthening a critical connection between neurological areas involving memory and decision-making.
Their experiment, involving 43 men and women aged 60 to 85, suggests cognitive decline and conditions such as dementia might be slowed by simply diffusing a different choice of perfumes through the bedroom before bed each night.
Keeping the old gray matter stimulated as we age is vital to maintaining good cognitive health. That doesn't just mean keeping up with the daily crossword – it means peppering our environment with all kinds of sights and sounds for the brain to chew on.