Researchers at Uppsala University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology have created an antibody that has the potential to treat a variety of cancers. Researchers were able to integrate three different functionalities in the antibody, which combined significantly increased the action of T cells on the cancer tumour. Researchers have developed a unique type of antibody that both targets and delivers a drug package via the antibody itself, while simultaneously activating the immune system ("3-in-1 design") for personalised immunotherapy treatments.
ALSO READ: Immunotherapy for cancer treatment: Side effects and how it differs from chemotherapy "We have been researching precision medicine for close to 15 years now, as well as how we can use antibodies to influence an important key protein (CD40) in the immune system. We can now show that our new antibody method works as precision medicine for cancer," explains Sara Mangsbo, professor at the Department of Pharmacy at Uppsala University, who together with Johan Rockberg, professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, is the study's lead author. How the new antibody works? The drug redirects the immune system to find and target specific mutations and gene changes that are only found in cancer cells, known as neoantigens.
This is achieved by the new antibody both delivering the unique tumour-specific material directly to a particular type of immune cell and by stimulating this cell simultaneously, which then has the capacity to gre.