intratumoral influenza vaccine

An inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine repurposed as a neoadjuvant intratumoral immunotherapy for the treatment of early-stage colorectal cancer. Developed and investigated by researchers at Zealand University Hospital, the vaccine is administered directly into the tumor via endoscopy prior to curative surgery. The mechanism of action involves modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME) to convert immunologically "cold" tumors into "hot" tumors. This is achieved by inducing the infiltration of cytotoxic CD8+ T-cells and upregulating PD-L1 expression, particularly in proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) tumors which are typically resistant to standard immune checkpoint inhibitors. The treatment aims to prime the local immune response and is being studied both as a monotherapy and in combination with systemic checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab.

Other names

inactivated influenza vaccineunadjuvanted influenza vaccineunaltered influenza vaccineunattenuated influenza vaccine