GoKawiilAdelaide researchers use tumor-targeted nanoparticles to reprogram cancer-fighting immune cells
University of Adelaide scientists led by Chunxia Zhao designed 'smart' nanoparticles that ferry mRNA specifically to tumor-associated macrophages, prompting them to produce CXCL9, a molecule that summons T cells to attack cancer. The approach, described this week in Science Advances, aims to reverse how tumors normally hijack macrophages to block immune attacks.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Many immunotherapies fail because tumors actively suppress nearby immune cells, so restoring their function at the tumor site rather than throughout the body could improve effectiveness while limiting the dangerous, whole-body immune overactivation seen with some existing treatments. This targeted delivery concept builds on mRNA technology popularized by Covid vaccines, potentially opening a safer path for using mRNA in solid tumor treatment.
- Tumors can reprogram immune cells like macrophages to block T cells from attacking cancer.
- The new nanoparticles deliver mRNA that instructs macrophages to produce CXCL9, drawing T cells to the tumor.
- Precise, tumor-specific delivery could reduce the risk of dangerous immune overactivation seen in broader immunotherapies.
Source: wired.com — Javier Carbajal, 2026-09-16
Published there as: “‘Smart’ Nanoparticles Deliver mRNA Directly to Tumors in New Cancer Therapy”
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