New Approaches to Treatment-Resistant Tumors
Shaobo Yang, PhD’24, bioengineering, advised by BioE Associate Professor Chiara Bellini, published research on “Non-Pathogenic E. Coli Displaying Decoy-Resistant IL18 Mutein Boosts Anti-Tumor and CAR NK Cell Responses” in Nature Biotechnology. The focus is on the use of genetically manipulated, non-pathogenic E. coli to induce anti-tumor responses in treatment-resistant solid tumors.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cyrus Moulton. Main photo: Shaobo Yang, a PhD student at Northeastern University’s College of Engineering, uses optimized bacteria to fight cancer. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Northeastern researcher uses engineered bacteria that fights cancer by shrinking tumors, showing potential for new treatments
He admits it sounds a little bit scary.
But a Northeastern University researcher says a new method using live bacteria to shrink tumors in mice has proven safe and effective in a recent study.
“Generally, what we are trying to do is we use bacteria to cure cancer,” says Shaobo Yang, a PhD student at Northeastern’s College of Engineering. “It sounds a little bit dangerous, but a lot of bacteria are nonpathogenic, meaning they don’t secrete toxins.”
Shaobo Yang, a PhD student at Northeastern’s College of Engineering, says the bacteria elicits an immune response that targets tumors. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
In the study, published by Nature Biotechnology, Yang and collaborators affiliated with the University of Michigan and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, used nonpathogenic E. coli specifically engineered with proteins on its surface to elicit an immune response and attack and kill cancer cells.
The bacteria are “tumor-homing,” as Yang describes it, naturally seeking out tumors.
The proteins, meanwhile, signal the immune system to attack and kill the cancer cells by activating T-cells and NK cells.
The researchers tested the delivery method by injecting the engineered bacteria into mice with melanoma and colorectal cancer.
The study found that 50% of the mice with colon cancer were cured by the optimized bacteria.
Combining the optimized bacteria with state-of-the-art immunotherapy, meanwhile, resulted in a 90% cure rate for mice with colon cancer.
Thirty percent of the mice with melanoma—a more difficult cancer to treat—were cured, according to the study.
Read Full Story at Northeastern Global News