Madison Reporter

University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers are working on personalized cancer vaccines using a byproduct of dying cancer cells. This effort, led by Quanyin Hu from the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy, aims to prevent aggressive tumors from recurring.

The team has made progress in slowing tumor recurrence in mouse models of triple negative breast cancer and melanoma. These cancers often return after initial treatments, making long-term prognosis poor for human patients.

The vaccine approach builds on the discovery of pyroptotic vesicles—tiny sacs containing remnants of cancer cells undergoing programmed cell death. These sacs include tumor-specific antigens and other molecules that help immune cells target remaining cancer cells post-surgery.

Published in Nature Nanotechnology, the study details how these sacs were engineered to carry an immune-stimulating drug and embedded into a hydrogel for implantation after tumor removal. In tests with melanoma and triple negative breast cancer mouse models, those receiving this treatment survived longer than others.

“Compared to the other approaches, ours shows a much stronger immune response,” says Hu. “We were one of the first groups to identify these pyrotopic vesicles and the first to show their effectiveness in helping prevent cancer recurrence, and we are very excited about their potential.”

Hu suggests this method could apply to recurrent cancers like pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma due to its individualized immune response capability. The localized nature also reduces systemic side effects common with other vaccines.

While further testing is needed before human trials can begin, Hu remains optimistic as several mice remained cancer-free throughout the study period. “That’s really exciting because we demonstrated that we could essentially cure these mice with no tumor recurrence,” he states.

This research received support from the National Institutes of Health (R01EB035992 and R01CA288851), American Cancer Society (RSG-23-1140821-01-ET), and METAVIVOR Foundation.