Supercharging Cancer Cells Mutation Rate Can Create Vaccine against them," Melcher said.
The
researchers first showed they could drive rapid genetic changes in
human cancer cells in the lab using high levels of APOBEC3B, which is
able to edit the DNA code of cells, giving rise to genetic changes that
can be seen as 'signatures' or 'footprints'.
The genetic analysis revealed more than a million extra mutations in the cells expressing APOBEC3B, compared with control cells.
Of these, around 68,000 contained the classical APOBEC signature. These genetic signatures made cancer cells vulnerable to treatment with immune checkpoint blockade, a major strategy in immunotherapy.
However, by generating new genetic changes, APOBEC3B can also drive cancer evolution and help cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy.
So rather than give APOBEC3B directly to tumours as a treatment, the researchers instead used the genetic signature it left behind to create individual cancer vaccines, each tailored to the particular genetic profile of a specific tumour.
They gave mice highly mutated cancer cell vaccines, in the form of mutant cancer proteins, and these elicited an immune attack against their tumours as they were immediately detected as "foreign".
The researchers want to take their new technique for creating personalised vaccines into the clinic as early as next year - starting with a trial in children with brain tumours.
The genetic analysis revealed more than a million extra mutations in the cells expressing APOBEC3B, compared with control cells.
Of these, around 68,000 contained the classical APOBEC signature. These genetic signatures made cancer cells vulnerable to treatment with immune checkpoint blockade, a major strategy in immunotherapy.
However, by generating new genetic changes, APOBEC3B can also drive cancer evolution and help cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy.
So rather than give APOBEC3B directly to tumours as a treatment, the researchers instead used the genetic signature it left behind to create individual cancer vaccines, each tailored to the particular genetic profile of a specific tumour.
They gave mice highly mutated cancer cell vaccines, in the form of mutant cancer proteins, and these elicited an immune attack against their tumours as they were immediately detected as "foreign".
The researchers want to take their new technique for creating personalised vaccines into the clinic as early as next year - starting with a trial in children with brain tumours.