Vaccination against Leukaemia by Sustained Release of Anti-PD-1 and Leukaemia-associated Antigen¹

 A pre-clinical study elevated the effectiveness of a vaccine, which co-encapsulated with a leukaemia-associated epitope peptide that is highly expressed in leukaemia patients and an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (anti-PD-1), in mice bearing leukaemia xenografts. With an advanced technology named degradable poly microcapsules, it allowed sustained release of the peptide and antibody. This led to the recruitment of activated antigen-presenting cells to the injection site, enhancing expansion of epitope-specific T cells and activation of cytotoxic T cells. After a single subcutaneous injection, mice with leukaemia xenografts derived from humanised cell lines or primary cells from patients demonstrated better therapeutic outcomes than mice receiving repeated injections of free antigen, antibody and a commercial adjuvant. Scientists concluded that the sustained release of cancer-associated peptide and anti-PD-1 may boost the antitumour immune responses against leukaemia.

References

1. Xie X, et al. Nat Biomed Eng. 2020; doi: 10.1038/s41551-020-00624-6.