Identifying and Characterizing Neoantigens of an Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Lung Cancer Vaccine
Abstract
Despite some progress in diagnosis and treatment, lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, particularly for present and past military personnel. Active-duty and past members of the military are more likely to acquire lung cancer than the civilian population due to many risk factors, particularly a higher smoking rate and an increased exposure to environmental carcinogens while serving in the military. Vaccines are medicines that fight a particular disease by boosting the human body’s immune system to recognize and destroy disease-causing substances. Vaccines provide a unique opportunity to prevent lung cancer. Thus, it is important to generate an efficient preventive vaccine for lung cancer. There is abundant evidence that lung tumor cells and embryonic stem (ES) cells share common molecules that trigger similar immune responses, and those molecules are named as neoantigens. A recent study exploits the similarity of neoantigens between tumor cells and ES cells, leading to the development of an anti-lung cancer vaccine based on ES cells, along with a molecule called granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, serving as a booster of immune responses (ES cell vaccine). ES cell vaccination is effective in preventing lung cancer in animal models. However, the neoantigens responsible for the preventive efficacy of ES cell vaccine are still unknown. Therefore, the objective of this grant is to identify and characterize those neoantigens. This grant focuses on developing an ES cell-based lung cancer vaccine, which fits in the Emphasis Areas of the Concept Award by identifying novel strategies for prevention of lung cancer. The proposed research will potentially lead to development of a preventive lung cancer vaccine. Therefore, our research on developing a lung cancer vaccine is particularly beneficial to populations bearing a high risk for lung cancer, such as heavy tobacco smokers, among present and past military members. This study could potentially lead to developing a lung cancer vaccine for humans, and the risk of evoking side effects appears to be limited. If the proposed research is completed successfully, it is expected that a clinical trial of a similar human lung cancer vaccine will be carried out in 5 years. The proposed study will provide insights into our knowledge about how to prevent lung cancer through vaccination, which could potentially lead to developing a vaccine for lung cancer in humans. Since it is of great importance to develop new strategies to prevent lung cancer for military members, the proposed studies exploring a new type of lung cancer vaccine are highly relevant to military Service members and Veterans. Overall, we will carry out the studies proposed in this grant with the hope of developing vaccines that are effective against lung cancer development and progression.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 19, 2019
- Source ID
- W81XWH1910644
Entities
People
- Chi Li
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Louisville