More than 30 years ago Jon A. Wolff demonstrated the idea of nucleic acid-encoded drugs by direct injecting in vitro transcribed mRNA in mice. Recent technological innovations such as increased stability, translation and delivery methods have enabled messenger RNAs to become a promising therapeutic tool. Tumor antigens are highly variable across different individuals; therefore mRNA represents an attractive approach because it can be customized to specific genetic defects found in an individual’s cancer cells. Developed and published by Molecular Cancer, this series aims to highlight significant findings and recent advances in mRNA vaccines and mRNA-based therapies in the fight against cancer.
Image from Wang, Y., Zhang, Z., Luo, J. et al. mRNA vaccine: a potential therapeutic strategy. Mol Cancer 20, 33 (2021). https://doiorg.publicaciones.saludcastillayleon.es/10.1186/s12943-021-01311-z