Yeast-Based Vaccine Induces Immune Responses and Reduces Tumor Size

nih.gov — Scientists have found that vaccination with a heat-killed, non-toxic yeast that is genetically engineered to manufacture a common tumor protein can induce specific and repeated anti-tumor immune responses in mice. Vaccination extends overall survival and reduces tumor size in mice that have been injected with cancer cells displaying the same protein that was engineered into the yeast. Results of this research by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, can be found in the July 1, 2008 issue of Clinical Cancer Research. "These results provide a rationale for evaluating yeast vaccines in cancer immunotherapy studies in humans," said study author James W. Hodge, Ph.D., in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research. The type of yeast used in this study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, does not cause disease in humans and has been used as a delivery vehicle for antigens, which are proteins usually on the surface of cells or organisms that stimulate immune responses. The tumor-associated antigen made by the genetically engineered yeast in this study is carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). CEA is commonly found on cancers of the colon, rectum, stomach, breast, and lung.

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