University of Maryland Baltimore County

mRNA-Delivered Nanobodies Show Promise Against Colorectal Cancer in Preclinical Study

- Researchers at JABSOM have developed an mRNA-based nanobody therapy that blocks PD-L1 and reduced colorectal cancer tumor growth by 50% in mouse models. - The nanobodies are one-tenth the size of conventional monoclonal antibodies, penetrate tumors better, and could cost thousands rather than hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. - Unlike traditional immunotherapy which hardly works in colorectal cancer, the nanobody approach successfully overcame tumor immune evasion mechanisms in preclinical testing. - The therapy uses mRNA delivery similar to COVID-19 vaccines to make patients' cells produce anti-PD-L1 nanobodies without altering the genome.