Iranian researchers take first step toward mRNA vaccine for breast cancer

Iranian researchers from five scientific and medical institutions have designed a novel mRNA vaccine candidate using advanced computational methods that could potentially prevent the growth and spread of breast cancer tumors.

Breast cancer remains one of the world's most pressing health challenges.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease claimed more than 670,000 lives globally in 2022 and is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in 157 countries.

While conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery have saved countless lives, their non-selective nature often damages healthy cells, causes severe side effects, and can lead to treatment resistance.

These limitations have prompted growing interest in immunotherapy, an approach that trains the body's immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells while minimizing harm to surrounding healthy tissue.

A team of researchers from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, the Pasteur Institute of Iran, and Motamed Cancer Institute has now developed a computationally designed mRNA vaccine candidate targeting breast cancer.

The vaccine simultaneously targets two proteins that play critical roles in tumor survival and progression: VEGFR2 and c-MET.

VEGFR2 enables tumors to form new blood vessels through a process known as angiogenesis, allowing cancer cells to receive nutrients and continue growing.

C-MET promotes tumor growth, survival, and metastasis—the spread of cancer cells to other parts of the body.

By stimulating the immune system against both targets, the vaccine is designed to cut off the tumor's blood supply while reducing its ability to invade and spread to distant tissues.

The researchers employed an immunoinformatics-based approach, using computational modeling and genetic databases to predict the vaccine's behavior before laboratory testing.

Unlike traditional vaccine development, which often requires extensive experimentation on biological samples and animal models in its early stages, this in silico method allows scientists to evaluate vaccine candidates through advanced computer simulations.

To generate an effective immune response, the team identified specific protein fragments known as epitopes, which serve as recognizable targets for the immune system.

Through a 12-step screening process, thousands of protein fragments were analyzed, leading to the selection of 10 epitopes incorporated into the vaccine design.

According to the findings, published in the journal International Immunopharmacology, the vaccine demonstrated strong potential to induce long-term immunity.

Simulated immune responses showed a significant increase in protective antibodies and activation of immune memory cells, both of which are considered crucial for preventing tumor recurrence.

The computational analyses also indicated that the vaccine remains structurally stable at human body temperature and is unlikely to cause toxicity or allergic reactions.

Despite the promising results, the researchers emphasized that the findings are currently limited to computational studies.

Before the vaccine can be considered for clinical use, it must undergo laboratory validation, animal testing, and human clinical trials to confirm its safety and effectiveness.

Nevertheless, the study provides a promising roadmap for the development of next-generation cancer vaccines and highlights how computational design could significantly reduce the time and cost required to develop targeted cancer immunotherapies.

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