BioNTech, the German biotechnology company that developed an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine with the US-based Pfizer, has launched human trials of an mRNA-based treatment for cancer.
The development follows the publication of a study in the medical journal, Science Translational Medicine, which revealed that an mRNA therapy successfully destroyed cancerous tumors in mice.
mRNA are molecules that tell the cells in the body to produce proteins. The research team made a mixture of mRNA that would develop cytokines, a protein naturally produced by the immune system to fight cancer cells.
Just like the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA-based Coronavirus vaccine, the new therapy instructs the body to produce the desired protein. In this particular case, anti-tumor proteins to help the body destroy cancerous cells.
During the study, the researchers injected the mRNA mixture into the mice that were infected with skin and lung cancers. In less than 40 days, the mRNA mixture triggered the intended immune response, producing cytokines to destroy the tumors in 17 out of 20 mice.
Additionally, the mRNA mixture went off-site from the targeted skin cancer cells to lung cancer cells where advanced anti-tumor responses were observed.
The study also warned that while mRNA therapy could prove to be a breakthrough in the treatment of cancer, it can also trigger unintended side effects.
