mRNA therapy sharply raises immune response to cancer
Most cancer immunotherapies work only for a minority of patients. A new mRNA treatment drastically increased immune responses in mice. It also boosted responses to flu and COVID-19.
Many tumors are immunologically cold: they fail to activate the immune system, or actively suppress it. That makes them difficult to fight with immunotherapy. One reason is that too few tumour-specific killer T cells (cells that directly attack cancer cells) are produced. Therapies that address this problem are an active area of research.
Scientists tested an mRNA therapy designed to improve T cell priming: the process by which the immune system learns which cells to treat as threats. In the study in mice, the therapy led to a strongly increased production of killer T cells targeting tumour cells. Immune responses to influenza and coronavirus were also improved.
How the therapy works
The mRNA therapy temporarily instructs cells to produce a specific protein. That protein activates dendritic cells, the immune system’s coordinator cells that train killer T cells. By amplifying that activation, more effective T cells are produced against the intended targets.
The mRNA platform advanced rapidly after the COVID-19 pandemic. The technology allows relatively quick design of new instructions for specific diseases, making it attractive for both infectious disease and cancer applications.
Where the limits lie
The results are promising but confined to mouse research. Whether the therapy works as well in humans, and whether it is safe over the longer term, remains to be studied. Researchers are also cautious about the broad effect: a stronger immune response could in principle lead to more side effects. Clinical trials are needed before conclusions about human use can be drawn.
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