Providence and Arizona State University are collaborating on a new mRNA vaccine research project aimed at boosting the effectiveness of T-cell therapies for pancreatic cancer. The Renton, Wash.-based health system and the Tempe, Ariz.-based university received a $225,000 grant from Stand Up To Cancer through its Nina Nicolai Innovation in Collaboration Award to fund the work.
The project pairs Eric Tran, PhD, an immunotherapy researcher at the Providence Cancer Institute, with Di Liu, PhD, an RNA engineering expert at Arizona State University. The two are designing next-generation messenger RNA molecules meant to sustain T-cell responses long enough to eradicate hard-to-treat solid tumors, including pancreatic cancer.
Current mRNA vaccines, credited with saving millions of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, haven’t matched that success against advanced cancer. Researchers believe the molecular structure of existing mRNA vaccines fails to stimulate the sustained T-cell response needed to eliminate tumors, and the inflammatory environment triggered after vaccination further limits their effectiveness.
“This collaboration focuses on solving a major treatment bottleneck in cancer immunotherapy,” Dr. Tran said. “By enhancing how long and how well vaccines can stimulate T cells, we believe we can significantly improve the effectiveness of T-cell therapies for patients with solid tumors.”
In 2022, Dr. Tran and Providence researchers published findings in the New England Journal of Medicine showing engineered T cells could shrink metastatic pancreatic tumors, though the therapy did not cure patients. The new research will test whether redesigned mRNA molecules can strengthen T cells’ cancer-killing ability under immune stress, potentially laying groundwork for future clinical trials.
Providence, a Catholic nonprofit health system based in Renton, Wash., operates 51 hospitals and more than 1,000 physician clinics across seven states and employs more than 120,000 caregivers.
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