The mRNA vaccines that divided a nation may hold unexpected hope for those with cancer, including children fighting the disease.
A recent study published by Nature — a journal renowned for groundbreaking, peer-reviewed, high-impact scientific research — reported that when patients with lung cancer or melanoma received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine within 100 days of starting immune checkpoint inhibitors — drugs that help the immune system recognize and attack tumors — their overall survival nearly doubled.
While immune checkpoint inhibitors — a type of immunotherapy — have worked for some patients, many did not respond.
The retrospective data suggest that the mRNA vaccine helped these drugs work better by activating the immune system more fully.
Many medical breakthroughs happen by accident
Science often delivers breakthroughs from unexpected directions.
- Penicillin was discovered by accident.
- Methotrexate, one of the first chemotherapy drugs, emerged from childhood leukemia research.
- Thalidomide, once infamous for birth defects, became a lifesaving therapy for multiple myeloma.
- AZT, later known for treating HIV/AIDS, was originally developed as a chemotherapy drug.
- Even Viagra began as a heart medicine before changing lives in a very different way.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Discovery rarely follows a straight line. Recently Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a wind-down of federal mRNA vaccine development projects under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
The decision terminated 22 mRNA research programs, a combined $500 million investment.
Kennedy said the vaccines in these studies “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”
While his statement focused on respiratory illness, the decision has raised broader concerns that it could discourage or delay mRNA research in areas such as cancer and rare diseases. Scientists worry that signaling a retreat from mRNA innovation, however narrowly defined, could slow progress just as the science is showing extraordinary promise.
Studies will confirm case for expanding research
The last thing we should do is undercut mRNA research for cancer and rare diseases. These programs represent some of the most innovative and hopeful science of our time, and they deserve continued investment.
The Department of Defense has long led bold, early-stage science through its Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, which fund discoveries too risky for conventional grants.
This is precisely where mRNA–immunotherapy innovation belongs. Instead of retreating, federal agencies should expand support for this science, particularly through the National Institutes of Health and pediatric cancer initiatives like the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative.
If the upcoming mRNA–immune checkpoint inhibitor study’s findings are confirmed, the case for expanding this research will only grow stronger.
Policymakers should act now to restore and expand mRNA funding, allowing scientists to test its combinations with immunotherapy.
Every day in America, 47 children are diagnosed with cancer. Many still receive treatments developed for adults more than four decades ago. If mRNA technology can make today’s most advanced immunotherapies more effective, or bring new ones within reach, we owe it to them to explore every possibility.
At the University of Florida, researchers have developed an mRNA vaccine for glioblastoma, a deadly brain tumor, that has advanced to Phase 2 clinical trials for children and adults. The university has also launched a new mRNA trial for osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that primarily affects teenagers and young adults. These personalized vaccines are already showing the ability to activate the immune system against aggressive tumors.
This is an encouraging sign of what sustained investment in mRNA research can achieve. Science doesn’t move forward by accident; it moves forward because someone chooses to invest in possibility. As leaders debate the next chapter of mRNA research, let’s ensure that vision, not fatigue, guides the path ahead.
Dean Crowe is the founder and CEO of Atlanta-based national nonprofit Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, which helps fund Dr. Elias Sayour’s mRNA cancer research at the University of Florida. Sayour is one of the authors of the Nature paper referenced in this essay.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
