Brain cancer in children is notoriously hard to treat – a new mRNA cancer vaccine triggers an attack from within

By Christina von Roemeling, University of Florida and John Ligon, University of Florida How cancer vaccines are delivered into the body influences their effectiveness. Liuhsihsiang/iStock via Getty Images Plus Brain cancers remain among the most challenging tumors to treat. They often don’t respond to traditional treatments because many chemotherapies are unable to penetrate the protective barrier around the brain. Other treatments like radiation and surgery can leave patients with lifelong debilitating side effects. As a result, brain cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in children. Brain tumors in children frequently do not respond to treatments developed for adults, likely due to the fact that pediatric brain cancers are not as well-studied as adult brain cancers. There is an urgent need to develop new treatments specific to children. We developed a new messenger-RNA, or mRNA, cancer vaccine, described in newly published research, that can deliver treatments more effectively in children who have brain cancer and teach their immune systems to fight back. Cancer treatments designed for adults may not necessarily work as well in children. Virojt Changyencham/Moment via Getty Images How do cancer vaccines work? The immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues and organs whose primary...