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Study: Cancer “vaccine” injected directly into tumors works in mice

Summary

Immunotherapy is treatment that uses the immune system to fight cancer. Still in its infancy, it is a promising therapy that is changing how certain cancers are treated. A new study reports that tumors in lab mice were eliminated when they were injected with two immune system-enhancing agents. This new approach is called in situ (at the original site) vaccination because the injections are given directly into the tumors. It worked on several different types of mouse tumors, including lymphomas and breast tumors. This approach may be safer than conventional immunotherapy because it uses very low doses of the agents and it does not require tumors to have particular markers. (02/23/18)

Cancer “vaccine” injected directly into tumors works in mice

Relevance

This article is most relevant for People with advanced cancers

Relevance Rating Details

Relevance: Medium-Low

Strength of Science: Medium-Low

Research Timeline: Animal Studies

Media Ratings

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How we rated the media

Who covered this study?

US News and World Report

Cancer 'vaccine' rids body of multiple cancer types -- in mice
This article rates 4.5 out of 5 stars

Science

Injection helps the immune system obliterate tumors, at least in mice
This article rates 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Contents

At a glance                  In-depth
Findings               Limitations                
Clinical trials  
Questions for your doctor  


STUDY AT A GLANCE

This study is about: 

Studying the effectiveness of treating cancer by injecting agents directly into tumors.

Why is this study important?

For decades, researchers have attempted to harness the body’s natural immune system to eliminate cancer. In this study, researchers showed that injecting very small amounts of two substances into the tumors of lab mice triggered an immune system response that eliminated the targeted tumor and other cancers as well. Moreover, the treatment was quicker and less costly than other currently used types of immunotherapies, because there was no need to discover specific targets or customize treatment against them. And since the drug was only injected into the tumor rather than being given systemically (intravenously or orally), the mice experienced less side effects.

Study findings: 

Directly applying two immune agents to tumors is a new approach that worked well in laboratory mice.

  • In mice with transplanted tumors at two separate sites, injecting one tumor site with the two agents eliminated both the treated and untreated tumors.
    • 87 of 90 mice were cured of
    • Although the cancer recurred in three of the mice, their tumors regressed again after a second treatment.
  • Mice that were genetically engineered to develop breast cancers in all 10 of their mammary pads also responded to the treatment:
  • Treating the first mammary tumor to develop often prevented the occurrence of future tumors and significantly increased the rodents’ life spans.

To determine whether the immune cell response was specific to different cancers, researchers transplanted two types of tumors into the mice: cancer cells in two locations and colon cancer cells in a third location.

  • When one site was treated, both tumors regressed, but the colon cancer cells remained unaffected. 
    • These results suggest a very targeted approach: only tumors with the targeted protein—in this case —at the treated site were affected. Treating the did not affect the colon cancer.

What does this mean for me?

While this study had excellent results—all of the subjects had substantial responses and lived longer—it is important to remember that this research was done in mice, and lab studies in animals don't always translate to the same results in people. However, both of the agents used in this study are also being tested in humans. One of the agents is already approved for use in humans and is currently being tested in patients as a single agent and in combination with other therapies. The other agent is being studied in early clinical trials. In January, the researchers of this study began a small trial in 15 patients with low-grade . 

If successful, researchers believe this type of treatment could be useful for many tumor types. In the future, patients may receive injections prior to surgical removal of their cancer as a way to prevent recurrence or the development of future tumors that develop from genetic mutations like BRCA1/2.

Posted 2/23/18

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References

Sagiv-Barfi I, Czerwinski DK, Levy S1, Alam IS, Mayer AT, Gambhir SS, Levy R. "Eradication of spontaneous malignancy by local ." Sci Transl Med. 2018.  10(426).
 

Disclosure

FORCE receives funding from industry sponsors, including companies that manufacture cancer drugs, tests and devices. All XRAYS articles are written independently of any sponsor and are reviewed by members of our Scientific Advisory Board prior to publication to assure scientific integrity.

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People with advanced cancers

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IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF RESEARCH

Study background:

Cancer is a treatment approach that uses the immune system to fight cancer. Some immunotherapies increase immune system activity throughout a patient’s body, while others target naturally occurring checkpoints that limit the anti-cancer activity of immune cells. Still others involve removal of a patient’s immune cells, genetically engineering them to attack tumor cells and then reintroducing them back into the body. Many of these approaches have been successful, but they also have significant downsides, from debilitating side effects to high cost and long preparation or treatment times.

Researchers of this study wanted to know:

If a mouse immune system could be stimulated to attack cancer cells by injecting a “vaccine” directly into a tumor.

Ronald Levy, MD, who holds the Robert K. and Helen K. Summy Professorship in the School of Medicine at Stanford University is the senior author of the study “Eradication of spontaneous malignancy by local ,” which was published in the January 31, 2018 issue of Science Translational Medicine. 

Levy and his team call this new treatment “in situ vaccination” because injecting minute amounts of two agents directly into a tumor triggers an enhanced T cell (a type of immune cell) response. One of the agents used is called a “CpG oligonucleotide,” a short molecule that increases the expression of the OX40 receptor on the surface of nearby T cells. The other agent is an antibody that binds to OX40 receptors and activates T cells to attack tumor cells. The body “prescreens” these activated T cells to recognize only the unique cancer-specific proteins in the tumor. Some of these tumor-specific T cells move beyond the original tumor to find and destroy other identical tumors in the body.

Population(s) looked at in the study:

  • Mice that were implanted with identical tumors in two sites.
  • Mice that were genetically engineered to develop breast cancers in all 10 of their mammary fat pads.
  • Mice that were implanted with identical tumors in two sites and a colon cancer in a third location.

Study findings:  

After in situ vaccination (injection of CpG and OX40) into one of two tumors in 90 mice:

  • 87 mice (97%) were cured of .
  • Although the cancer recurred in three of the mice, the tumors regressed again after a second treatment.

Other mice used in this study were genetically engineered to develop receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-negative tumors in all 10 of their mammary fat pads.

  • In situ vaccination (injection of CpG and OX40) into the first developing mammary tumor:
    • Prevented tumors from developing in other fat pads.
    • Significantly increased the animal’s life span.
    • In some cases, a second tumor was present at the beginning of the vaccination and treatment of a single tumor led to significant reduction in growth of the contralateral tumor.

Finally, the researchers explored specifically how this immune cell response affected different cancers. In mice with implanted tumors at two different sites and one colon cancer tumor: 

  • After in situ vaccination (injection of CpG and OX40) into one of the tumors:
    • Both the injected and the non-injected tumors regressed
    • the colon tumor continued to grow.

In a related experiment, mice that were implanted with two colon cancers and one tumor were given an in situ vaccination (injection of CpG and OX40) into one colon cancer tumor:

  • Both the injected and non-injected colon cancer tumors regressed
  • the tumor continued to grow.

Limitations:

This study’s results are excellent and exciting: all of the mice that were treated had substantial tumor responses and lived longer.  However, it is important to remember that many cancer therapies that work well in rodents don’t translate to humans. It should also be noted that this approach will only work in tumors that have been infiltrated by the immune system.

A new, small trial of situ vaccination with CpG and OX40 for low-grade will soon begin enrolling patients; it will be a starting point to understand whether this approach can be as successful in people as it was in these study mice. Even if the human trial is successful, it will still be years before this type of tumor “vaccination” can be broadly offered to patients.

Conclusions:

Dr. Levy states, “Our [new] approach uses a one-time application of very small amounts of two agents to stimulate the immune cells only within the tumor itself. In the mice, we saw amazing, bodywide effects, including the elimination of tumors all over the animal.”  However, he also cautions that if this approach proves successful in humans, it would likely be only one of a number of tools used to fight the cancer.  While exciting, a lot of unknowns about this treatment remain: Will it work on everyone? How many cancers might be impacted? Does it have the potential to overstimulate the immune system?  Further research will be needed to answer these and other important questions.

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Posted 2/23/18

Questions To Ask Your Doctor
Questions To Ask Your Doctor

  • Is an option for me at this time?
  • Are there any harmful side effects from vaccines, or from in general?
  • Do I qualify for any clinical trials?

Related Resources
Related Resources

The following organizations have resources related to testing (tumor testing). 

Updated: 11/25/2024

Who covered this study?

US News and World Report

Cancer 'vaccine' rids body of multiple cancer types -- in mice This article rates 4.5 out of 5 stars

Science

Injection helps the immune system obliterate tumors, at least in mice This article rates 4.5 out of 5 stars

Medical News Today

One injection could kill cancer This article rates 2.0 out of 5 stars

Fox News Chicago

Vaccine giving new hope in fight against cancer This article rates 1.0 out of 5 stars

Newsweek

New cancer treatment? Vaccine kills tumors in mice—and human tests are starting soon This article rates 1.0 out of 5 stars

WorldHealth.Net

So-called "cancer vaccine" isn't a vaccine at all; it's actually immunotherapy that boosts the body's own immune function This article rates 0.5 out of 5 stars

How we rated the media

Back to XRAY Home

Article Rating Details

Science: Injection helps the immune system obliterate tumors, at least in mice
Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • The headline clearly states what the article claims, and emphasizes that at this time the study results were seen only in mice.
  • This was, overall, a very well-written, comprehensive media article.
  • Several outside expert sources were interviewed, as well as the lead researcher.
  • There is little discussion on limitations in this study, beyond noting “The big question is whether the approach works in people, as most rodent cancer therapies don’t translate to humans.”

US News and World Report: Cancer 'vaccine' rids body of multiple cancer types -- in mice
Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • This was a very well-written and easy to read article.
  • The headline matches what the article claims, however the lede:  “Could a cancer "vaccine" fight more than one kind of malignancy?” may be somewhat difficult to understand for a lay reader.
  • The article includes a discussion by an outside expert on several limitations to the research.

Medical News Today: One injection could kill cancer
Rating: 2.0 Stars

  • The headline of this media report is exaggerated and misleading: “One Injection Could Kill Cancer”.  This is work done in mice in a lab. While the results are promising for a potential treatment, there is a lot of work left to do before that can happen and this can be deemed a treatment to kill cancer.
  • This media article did not include any information or interviews from sources not involved in the study.
  • There is detailed description of the study methods and results.
  • This media article did not mention the limitations of the research study.

Fox News Chicago: Vaccine giving new hope in fight against cancer
Rating: 1.0 Stars

  • This media report did not include any interviews from researchers involved in the study or any discussion of study results or limitations.
  • The headline is misleading and does not mention the research study was conducted only in mice. The headline does not match the article, which focuses on social media and other unrelated immunotherapy trials. This can mislead readers into believing this vaccine is already being used in humans.
  • The author focuses on interest in this study generated on Facebook and interviews patients receiving unrelated immunotherapy treatments.

Newsweek: New cancer treatment? Vaccine kills tumors in mice—and human tests are starting soon
Rating: 1.0 Stars

  • While the title matches the results it is somewhat misleading. Human testing of the approach will initially be limited to a very small group of patients with low-grade lymphoma.
  • This was a very brief article on the new research. Because it is so brief and the science complicated this article may be challenging for a lay reader to follow.
  • The article clumps together traditional vaccines, immunotherapy approaches and ‘persoonalized vaccines’ in a way that is likely very confusing to a lay reader. 
  • The articles leaves out important details of the research (type of tumor tested) and more importantly the results. No mention of how many mice responded to the treatment.
  • Only the senior author on the study was quoted. No outside experts were interviewed.

WorldHealth.Net: So-called "cancer vaccine" isn't a vaccine at all; it's actually immunotherapy that boosts the body's own immune function
Rating: 0.5 Stars

  • The headline is very misleading.  It claims that the new approach is not a vaccine at all.  This incorrect claim is not supported by scientific facts as to how the immune system works.
  • While this article briefly describes the research it begins with a lengthy discussion of a very biased description of vaccines:  “”…vaccines contain dodgy ingredients like thimerosal (mercury) and cells derived from aborted baby fetuses, in addition to causing a host of serious adverse health effects.”  The article then tries to suggest that the new approach is not a vaccine at all but a “type of immune therapy” that does not have the side effects of vaccines. This is scientifically incorrect and used only to support their bias against traditional vaccines.
  • The author then uses the Daily Mail’s description of the research which is correct but very brief.
  • No comments from any of the researchers nor outside experts were included.

Study Rating Details

Relevance: Medium-Low

  • This study is most relevant patients with advanced lymphoma cancer. 

  • While this study did look at estrogen receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-negative mouse mammary tumors, these are quite different from human breast cancers.   

  • This study’s results are excellent and exciting: all of the mice that were treated had substantial tumor responses and lived longer.  However, it is important to remember that many cancer therapies that work well in rodents don’t ultimately work well in humans.  

  • A new, small trial of situ vaccination with CpG and OX40 for low-grade lymphoma is enrolling patients; it will be a starting point to understand whether this approach can be as successful in people as it was in these study mice.  

  • Even if the human trial is successful, it will still be years before this type of tumor “vaccination” can be broadly offered to patients. 

Strength of Science: Medium-Low

  • The research design and analysis of results were appropriate for this type of preliminary study-early research in animals that may one day translate to humans. 
  • Because this is early research in mice models, the current clinical relevance is low given that many times, successful studies in animal models are not readily translatable to humans. 
  • While promising, these results need to be validated and studies in humans need to be performed to determine if this research is clinically translatable to humans. 

Research Timeline: Animal Research