Cutting Edge Technology “Infection-mimicking materials to program dendritic cells in situ”Melanoma .. Jim Breitfeller

Cutting Edge Technology “Infection-mimicking materials to program dendritic cells in situ”

Thanks to Donald Bohlken for bring this to my attention.

“I thought you might be interested in that attached article from the January 25, 2009 issue of the journal "Nature Materials" concerning a Harvard study of a new vaccine methodology which resulted in a 90% survival of mice infected with a melanoma strain which would normally kill them in 25 days. The article speaks of this result as a "cure".

The article synopsis notes: "Cancer vaccines typically depend on cumbersome and expensive manipulation of cells in the laboratory, and subsequent cell transplantation leads to poor lymph-node homing and limited efficacy. We propose that materials mimicking key aspects of bacterial infection may instead be used to directly control immune-cell trafficking and activation in the body. It is demonstrated that polymers can be designed to first release a cytokine to recruit and house host dendritic cells, and subsequently present cancer antigens and danger signals to activate the resident dendritic cells and markedly enhance their homing to lymph nodes. Specific and protective anti-tumour immunity was generated with these materials, as 90% survival was achieved in animals that otherwise die from cancer within 25 days. These materials show promise as cancer vaccines, and more broadly suggest that polymers may be designed to program and control the trafficking of a variety of cell types in the body."
This is Nano and Transdermal Technology at its best.

Implants Mimic Infection To Rally Immune System Against TumorsMain Category:

Melanoma / Skin CancerAlso Included In: Immune System / Vaccines; Medical Devices / Diagnostics; Biology / Biochemistry

Article Date: 25 Jan 2009 - 0:00 PST

“Bioengineers at Harvard University have shown that small plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin can reprogram the mammalian immune system to attack tumors.

The research -- which ridded 90 percent of mice of an aggressive form of melanoma that would usually kill the rodents within 25 days -- represents the most effective demonstration to date of a cancer vaccine.

Harvard's David J. Mooney and colleagues describe the research in the current issue of the journal Nature Materials.

"Our immune systems work by recognizing and attacking foreign invaders, allowing most cancer cells -- which originate inside the body -- to escape detection," says Mooney, Gordon McKay Professor of Bioengineering in Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "This technique, which redirects the immune system from inside the body, appears to be easier and more effective than other approaches to cancer vaccination."

Most previous work on cancer vaccines has focused on removing immune cells from the body and reprogramming them to attack malignant tissues. The altered cells are then reinjected back into the body. While Mooney says ample theoretical work suggests this approach should work, in experiments more than 90 percent of the reinjected cells have died before having any effect.
The implants developed by Mooney and colleagues are slender disks measuring 8.5 millimeters across. Made of an FDA-approved biodegradable polymer, they can be inserted subcutaneously, much like the implantable contraceptives that can be placed in a woman's arm.
The disks are 90 percent air, making them highly permeable to immune cells. They release cytokines, powerful attractants 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 activate the immune system's T cells to hunt down and kill tumor cells throughout the body.”

Source: Http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/136473.php

Implants Mimic Infection To Rally Immune System Against Tumors



Donald Bohlken actually contacted one of the collaborators, Dr. Glenn Dranoff of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He indicated: "We are initiating efforts to bring this to clinical testing, but it will take some time to adapt the procedures to patients. A one year time frame is a reasonable guess."

If this crosses over from the mouse model to the human model, we may have a winner on our hands. A 90 % response and if they are complete responses, this technology would surpass any therapy out there to date. The main take away is that they are prompting our immune system to recognize the tumors by activation of the T-cell. Rosenberg and Hwu and other colleagues are doing just that with (ACT) Adoptive Cell Transfer. Kirkwood, Camacho, Webber, Hodi, Maker, O’Day and Wolchok did that with anti-CTLA-4 blockage.

I can see the Light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Don for advocating for us and your Brother Ron who is a fighting Warrior of Melanoma.

I will post the research paper on Melanoma Missionary for everybody.

Jimmy B