Scientists have studied mRNA technology since the discovery of the mRNA molecule over half a century ago. You may have heard about mRNA technology with the development of COVID-19 vaccines, but researchers have also been working on mRNA vaccines to treat cancer for over a decade.
A small clinical trial published in Nature in February showed that mRNA vaccines may help treat pancreatic cancer. And last year, an early-stage trial at the University of Florida found that an mRNA vaccine could activate the immune system to fight glioblastoma, the most common and deadliest kind of cancerous brain tumor in adults.
“We’re using the breakthrough power of mRNA to reprogram a patient’s immune system against their own cancer,” says Dr. Elias Sayour, a pediatric oncologist (child cancer doctor) at the University of Florida and principal investigator at UF’s RNA Engineering Laboratory, who led the glioblastoma study.
We spoke with Sayour about this study and the potential of mRNA technology to treat cancer. Read on to find out more.
What is mRNA, and how can mRNA technology treat cancer?
mRNA, short for messenger RNA, is a molecule in all of our cells. Its job is to carry instructions that tell the body how to make proteins.
“mRNA is the information the human body runs on to make the hardware, [which is] us,” explains Sayour. “That hardware is programmable.”
mRNA is a molecule that contains human beings’ information, he adds. It is what makes our tissues, muscles, and organs work.
And just like a software update can improve how your phone works, researchers like Sayour are exploring ways to “update” the body’s instructions to help prevent and fight diseases like cancer.
Sayour explains that mRNA cancer vaccines want to reprogram the immune system so that healthy cells attack tumor cells.
What’s the difference between mRNA technology to treat cancer and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines?
Both types of vaccines use mRNA to teach the body how to fight disease—but they work a little differently.
The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are designed to prevent a COVID-19 infection before it starts, says Sayour. However, the mRNA vaccine that Sayour and his team are working on is meant to treat cancer that’s already in the body.
Another key difference is how the mRNA is delivered. COVID-19 vaccines use a fat-based shell that protects and carries the RNA inside, which is then injected into a muscle. This mRNA cancer vaccine uses onion-like structures, or clusters, that are injected into the bloodstream (intravenously) to spark a stronger immune response, Sayour adds.
“In the context of cancer, the disease is already there, and you need to wake that immune system up almost immediately,” he says.
What did the study into mRNA vaccines to treat brain tumors find?
Sayour’s 2024 study used patients’ tumor cells to create personalized vaccines. The study involved four patients whose tumors were removed through surgery.
After surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, each patient received up to four doses of the vaccine for six weeks. The vaccine triggered fast and strong immune responses. The researchers found indicators of strong and fast immune responses in the patients. Patients showed high levels of white blood cells—the body’s natural defense system—which were active in attacking the remaining cancer cells.
“In a very small cohort of patients, where we slowly escalated the dose, we found that this can lead to very rapid and robust immune responses in these patients,” Sayour says. “With activity not only in the tumor microenvironment, but in the circulating blood, where patients’ blood cells can now recognize the tumor.”
What’s the future of mRNA technology to treat cancer?
Sayour’s study is still in the early stages, so the vaccine has a long way to go before it can be approved. But the results are promising. He hopes that one day this mRNA technology can be used to treat children with brain tumors, and even help stop cancer from coming back.
“Some of what I’m talking about is more futuristic, but this is the power of the technology,” he says. “And, as we get better at diagnosing patients, screening patients, identifying who’s at risk, you can see a situation where now, not only can we vaccinate those patients and boost their immune response, you can stay ahead of their own cancer, their own cancer’s evolution.”