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Cake day: September 29th, 2025

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  • I’m not a researcher or anything, but in this case it does seem to prevent new cancer.

    After vaccination with the higher-density particles, mice were much less likely to develop tumors when later exposed to melanoma cancer cells expressing the SIINFEKL antigen.

    Essentially, they modified a harmless bacteriophage to carry a neoantigen common to a form of mouse colon cancer and provoke an immune response. This taught the mouse’s immune system to attack when it detects that neoantigen in the future thus preventing tumor formation.

    They did previously use a similar technique to attack existing mouse tumors and are working towards using it to treat other cancer types.

    In this study, the researchers tested the vaccine as a way to prevent cancer from developing, and in their previous work, they adapted it for use to treat mouse colon tumors that have already formed. In the future, they also hope to use it to combat other types of cancer.

    If a similar structure is found to be common in human colon cancer, a bacteriophage could be created to prompt a person’s immune system to attack cancer cells as soon as they appear or treat people who already have colon cancer. This seems like a very exciting discovery if it translates to a human treatment.