Cancer Vaccine Implants Eliminate Tumors in Mice

Filed in archive Drugs, Vaccines and Therapeutics on November 29, 2009

In this week's issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, bioengineers describes the use of plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin to reprogram the immune system to attack melanoma tumors in mice.

The slender implants developed by Mooney�™s group measure 8.5 millimeters in diameter and are made of an FDA-approved biodegradable polymer. Ninety percent air, the disks are highly permeable to immune cells and release cytokines, powerful recruiters of immune-system messengers called dendritic cells.

These cells enter an implant�™s pores, where they are exposed to antigens specific to the type of tumor being targeted. The dendritic cells then report to nearby lymph nodes, where they direct the immune system�™s T cells to hunt down and kill tumor cells.

“Inserted anywhere under the skin �" much like the implantable contraceptives that can be placed in a woman�™s arm �" the implants activate an immune response that destroys tumor cells,” Mooney said.

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