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“Neoantigens” that are unique to tumor cells are recognized by the immune system: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) unleash an immune attack against those neoantigens. Unfortunately, ICIs perform poorly against pancreatic cancer because these cancer cells have relatively few neoantigens.
To try to boost immune recognition of pancreatic cancer neoantigens, investigators resected pancreatic tumors from 16 people, sequenced DNA and RNA from each tumor, and determined each tumor's neoantigens. Then, they created “personalized” mRNA vaccines (like the vaccines used against SARS-CoV-2) that would cause each patient to make his or her tumor's neoantigens in abundance. Each patient received an ICI, followed by the personalized vaccine, followed by…