A newly developed nanoparticle vaccine has shown strong potential in preventing and treating aggressive cancers in preclinical studies, according to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The experimental approach, which uses engineered nanoparticles to deliver both immune-stimulating agents and cancer-specific antigens, was able to stop tumor growth and prevent cancer from spreading in mice.
The study tested the vaccine on melanoma, pancreatic cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer—three of the most challenging types to treat.
In one trial, up to 88% of mice that received the vaccine remained free of tumors, depending on the cancer type. When researchers exposed vaccinated mice to cancer cells systemically, mimicking how tumors spread, none developed lung metastases. All unvaccinated mice or those given traditional vaccines developed tumors and died within weeks.
Immune system memory at work
Prabhani Atukorale, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UMass Amherst, said the vaccine’s design mimics how the body responds to pathogens by activating multiple immune pathways.
She explained that combining this multi-pathway activation with cancer-specific signals helps trigger long-term immune memory, giving the body a better chance to recognize and destroy cancer cells over time.
Previous work from Atukorale’s lab showed that her nanoparticle-based drug design could shrink existing tumors. The new study shifts focus to prevention, marking a significant step forward in cancer immunotherapy.
Initial experiments paired the nanoparticle system with well-known melanoma antigens, which trained T cells to recognize the cancer. After vaccination, 80% of mice remained tumor-free for over eight months.
Later tests used a broader approach by creating a vaccine from dead tumor cells, known as tumor lysate, allowing it to target cancers without needing genome sequencing.
Broad tumor rejection rates across cancers
Results from this phase showed 88% of mice rejected pancreatic tumors, 75% rejected breast tumors, and 69% rejected melanoma. All tumor-free mice also resisted further cancer spread.
Lead author Griffin Kane, a postdoctoral researcher at UMass Amherst, said the strong immune activation seen in these trials came from the way the nanoparticles deliver two different immune activators at once—something traditional methods struggle to achieve due to chemical incompatibility.
The researchers say this nanoparticle vaccine system offers a flexible platform that could be adapted for both prevention and treatment. Atukorale and Kane have launched a startup, NanoVax Therapeutics, to develop the technology further.
The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was supported by UMass Amherst’s Biomedical Engineering Department, the Institute for Applied Life Sciences and UMass Chan Medical School. Findings were published Oct. 9 in Cell Reports Medicine.
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