Pharmaceutical scientists at the UI College of Pharmacy may have discovered a new strategy to overcome cancer’s resourceful defenses. In a new study, researchers found that charged nanoparticles combined with a vaccine were effective in eliminating tumors or extending the life span in cancerous mice.

The new approach is attractive because the nanoparticle could be mass manufactured, stored at room temperature, and administered by general physicians to treat a variety of cancers.  It's a way to make vaccines work more efficiently and potentially realize the promise of vaccines to treat cancer.

“We have a synthetic agent that’s more cost-effective, it’s easier to manufacture, it’s more stable, and it would be easier for a physician to learn and use it, versus a biologically based agent,” says Bighley Chair and Professor Aliasger Salem, the study’s corresponding author.

The results of the study, “Cationic nanoparticles enhance T cell tumor infiltration and antitumor immune responses to a melanoma vaccine," were published recently in Science Advances, part of the Science family of journals. Other College of Pharmacy-affiliated co-authors on the study include: Rasheid Smith, Emad Wafa, Sean Geary, Kareen Ebeid, and Suhaila Alhaj-Suliman.

Read more about the study in IowaNow.