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A cancer treatment that uses messenger RNA (mRNA) to attack cancer cells is being tested in humans after a new study found the therapy was able to completely shrink tumors in mice.
BioNTech, the German company that developed Pfizer’s breakthrough mRNA vaccine, is starting to test the treatment to see if it can be effective in fighting cancer cells in humans by producing anti-tumor proteins.
MRNAs are molecules that instruct cells in the body to make proteins. In the study, which was published in the medical journal, Science Translational Medicine, the researchers developed a mixture of mRNA that would make cytokines – a protein naturally produced by immune cells to fight cancer cells.
Similar to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, the new therapy teaches the body how to make the desired protein. In this case, anti-tumor proteins that help the body fight cancer cells.
The results of the study showed that when the mRNA mixture was injected into mice with two different types of cancer (skin cancer and lung cancer), an immune response was triggered producing cytokines in amounts capable of decreasing tumors in 17 out of 20 mice in less than 40 days.
In addition, some of the animals showed that the therapy moved away from the targeted skin cancer site to lung cancer cells where advanced anti-tumor responses were recorded, further improving survival and shrinking tumors.
Scientists also explained in their study that while therapy may be a viable approach, it can also trigger unwanted side effects.
As a result of the successful study, clinical trials of the treatment are underway. A phase one / two trial has been underway since 2019 involving 231 participants. Preliminary results published in November 2020 did not reveal any unwanted side effects to the trial treatment, currently known as SAR441000.
The Pfizer vaccine developed by BioNTech has been at the forefront of global coronavirus vaccination with more than 90% effectiveness against Covid-19 after the second dose of its vaccine.
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