Report: Vaccine eliminates tumors in mice

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- An implanted vaccine eliminated melanoma tumors in mice, offering hope of improved treatment for people with skin cancer, U.S. researchers said.

Using polymer disks the size of a fingernail containing tumor-specific antigens, researchers at Harvard University said they reprogrammed the immune systems of mice to attack tumors, HealthDay News reported Wednesday.

Harvard bioengineering Professor David J. Mooney said the disks are implanted under the skin and suggested the technique would be more effective and more easily applied than other cancer vaccines currently in clinical trials, HealthDay News reported.

"Inserted anywhere under the skin -- much like the implantable contraceptives that can be placed in a woman's arm -- the implants activate an immune response that destroys tumor cells," Mooney said in a statement issued by Harvard.

The process causes no damage to healthy tissue, the researchers said, because it targets only tumor cells.

The findings are reported in the Nov. 25 issue of Science Translational Medicine.