The original paper is here: Super-adjuvant nanoparticles for platform cancer vaccination - October 9, 2025 One of the authors of the paper apparently did an AMA on Reddit. (I don't know how to...
UMass Amherst researchers have developed a groundbreaking nanoparticle-based cancer vaccine that prevented melanoma, pancreatic, and triple-negative breast cancers in mice—with up to 88% remaining tumor-free. The vaccine triggers a multi-pathway immune response, producing powerful T-cell activation and long-term immune memory that stops both tumor growth and metastasis. By combining cancer-specific antigens with a lipid nanoparticle “super adjuvant,” it overcomes key challenges in cancer immunotherapy.
One of the authors of the paper apparently did an AMA on Reddit. (I don't know how to verify this. Reddit username Gkane262626, signing comments as "Griffin", and there's an author named "Griffin I. Kane" credited in the paper.) Some of the interesting answers in the AMA thread:
Q: How much do you expect your results to translate to human trials? What differences with mice could come into play that would change the results?
A: That is always the billion dollar question in new drug development. The key to this nanoparticle system are the two payloads (a STING agonist and a TLR4 agonist). These molecules activate the immune system via specific pathway, and thus require recognition by specific cellular machinery (STING and TL4). The expression levels of this machinery vary from patient to patient, but are generally well expressed in all immune cells. If a patient cohort was low in STING/TLR4 expression, they may not be a likely responder. These immune responses are generated in the lymph nodes, which are decently recapitulated in mice compared to humans. Identification and selection of antigens will need to be human specific. And, of course, many drugs that have shown little to no toxicity in mouse modes have presented in clinical trials with uncontrollable adverse side effects. Sorting out the precise NP formulation that safely and effectively co-delivers these drugs will be the key. There is significant literature explaining the more precise challenges in animal-to-human translation. Each drug (and its regulatory path) often differs.-Griffin
Q: What stage of cancer was tested, and what are the possible implications for the ~80% of pancreatic cancers diagnosed as inoperable?
A: This paper presented a prophylactic vaccine, so preventative. Stay tuned for the next phase, which will entail therapeutic vaccination in tumor bearing patients!
Q: Are funding cuts in the US jeopardizing the next steps in this research?
A: Yes 10000% and this is of paramount importance. Progress by fundamental biology and engineering researchers is being hindered.
Q: How long until this could be commercially available?
A: No promises, but our feet are on the gas pedal. IND submission to FDA in the next 18-24 months.
Q: Your mouse data are preventive and use a very strong dual signal (STING + TLR4). Given that STING drugs have struggled for tolerability/efficacy in people and that lysate-style vaccines have a mixed past, how will your first-in-human trial de-risk those issues? Specifically: (1) which clinical setting will you pick first (post-surgery to prevent recurrence vs. active disease), (2) will you start with defined peptides rather than lysate to lower autoimmunity risk, (3) what biomarkers (e.g., STING/TLR4 activity) will you use to pre-select likely responders, and (4) how will you drive lymph-node activation without systemic inflammation (dose, route, or device)? What concrete ‘win’ signal in Phase 1 would convince you this can scale?
A: Great questions. First indications will likely include solid tumors patients, likely in combination with ICB therapy. We are actively narrowing the peptide pool and developing methods for screening TCRs that expand when lysate method is used (maybe new neoantigens?). Existing targets like KRAS are also of interest. STING and TLR4 expression levels in lymph nodes and tumors will be of high interest. Our NPs have been engineering to drain efficiently to lymph nodes and avoid accumulation in other peripheral organs (a major advantage to this tech). A win in phase 1 would be safe and efficacious with clear immunogenicity. Exact guidelines will be ironed out.
Most of the discussion is too technical for me to understand, so I don't know how excited I should be about this. I always see exciting headlines in cancer research, and of course any progress here is important. It still just feels like it's still a long way off from considering cancer to be an easily treatable / preventable / well-understood condition.
I got my undergrad degree in nanoengineering (w/ EE focus, so the medical aspects are a bit beyond me), so I can speak a little to the "nano" aspect of this. Essentially, they have two essential...
I got my undergrad degree in nanoengineering (w/ EE focus, so the medical aspects are a bit beyond me), so I can speak a little to the "nano" aspect of this. Essentially, they have two essential components required to invoke the immune response, but they aren't stable together (which they refer to as the adjuvants). What they do, essentially, is package them in "bubbles". Lipids have a hydrophobic and hydrophilic end, and when enough are present they tend to self assemble lipid bilayers (think two concentric spheres), where the lipids align themselves so the external and internal surfaces are lined with the hydrophilic ends, and the hydrophobic ends are between them. A picture is worth a thousand words
And they're easy to form. We did a lab where you basically prepare a solution of whatever you want to package, introduce lipids, mix it, and then you can force the solution through filters to select for the size you want ( I forget all the details, this was over a decade ago and I ended up not pursuing work in that field/academia, but it wasn't a big deal to do). You can mix other things with the lipids to allow them to be activated/coalesce with other cells/release there contents when they encounter specific compounds/conditions.
So you do this for both adjuvants, and then you can extract the encapsulated adjuvants and mix them together. This allows them to be stably stored together, as well as create a targeted release/delivery method (such that the compounds does degrade/undergo side reactions with other compounds before it reaches the desired place(s) in the body.
I can't speak to the cancer/treatment aspects, but this is really cool as a storage/delivery method and broadly applicable.
I’ve learned never to get too excited when the headline ends “in mice”. There’s all kinds of amazing stuff that works in mice, including literal rejuvenation, that just doesn’t translate to...
I’ve learned never to get too excited when the headline ends “in mice”. There’s all kinds of amazing stuff that works in mice, including literal rejuvenation, that just doesn’t translate to humans.
My favorite reaction to one of these stories was, “This is truly an amazing time to be a mouse”.
The original paper is here: Super-adjuvant nanoparticles for platform cancer vaccination - October 9, 2025
One of the authors of the paper apparently did an AMA on Reddit. (I don't know how to verify this. Reddit username Gkane262626, signing comments as "Griffin", and there's an author named "Griffin I. Kane" credited in the paper.) Some of the interesting answers in the AMA thread:
Most of the discussion is too technical for me to understand, so I don't know how excited I should be about this. I always see exciting headlines in cancer research, and of course any progress here is important. It still just feels like it's still a long way off from considering cancer to be an easily treatable / preventable / well-understood condition.
I got my undergrad degree in nanoengineering (w/ EE focus, so the medical aspects are a bit beyond me), so I can speak a little to the "nano" aspect of this. Essentially, they have two essential components required to invoke the immune response, but they aren't stable together (which they refer to as the adjuvants). What they do, essentially, is package them in "bubbles". Lipids have a hydrophobic and hydrophilic end, and when enough are present they tend to self assemble lipid bilayers (think two concentric spheres), where the lipids align themselves so the external and internal surfaces are lined with the hydrophilic ends, and the hydrophobic ends are between them. A picture is worth a thousand words
And they're easy to form. We did a lab where you basically prepare a solution of whatever you want to package, introduce lipids, mix it, and then you can force the solution through filters to select for the size you want ( I forget all the details, this was over a decade ago and I ended up not pursuing work in that field/academia, but it wasn't a big deal to do). You can mix other things with the lipids to allow them to be activated/coalesce with other cells/release there contents when they encounter specific compounds/conditions.
So you do this for both adjuvants, and then you can extract the encapsulated adjuvants and mix them together. This allows them to be stably stored together, as well as create a targeted release/delivery method (such that the compounds does degrade/undergo side reactions with other compounds before it reaches the desired place(s) in the body.
I can't speak to the cancer/treatment aspects, but this is really cool as a storage/delivery method and broadly applicable.
I’ve learned never to get too excited when the headline ends “in mice”. There’s all kinds of amazing stuff that works in mice, including literal rejuvenation, that just doesn’t translate to humans.
My favorite reaction to one of these stories was, “This is truly an amazing time to be a mouse”.