Google Makes Major Investment in Personalized Cancer Vaccines

As genetic science advances day by day, groundbreaking approaches to cancer treatment are emerging. Perhaps one of the most promising is personalized cancer vaccines. Google has decided to invest in artificial intelligence -based personalized cancer vaccine development at Gritstone Oncology, committing 92 million dollars. With this support, the medical informatics company will begin human clinical trials around the middle of next year.

Are Personalized Cancer Vaccines Really Promising?

As is known, cancer develops through the accumulation of gene mutations . Only a very small proportion of these mutations are “drivers.” In other words, these mutations are the actual cause of cancer development. Because of their genetic abnormalities, cancer cells produce thousands of different new proteins. These proteins are called neoantigens . To recognize neoantigens, fighting T cells need a kind of training . This is precisely the aim of personalized cancer vaccines.

For this purpose, Gritstone Oncology takes tumor samples from each patient, analyzes the sample with artificial intelligence and identifies neoantigens specific to that patient’s tumor. These antigens are loaded into a genetically modified virus, made into a vaccine and administered to the patient. This activates the immune system against the tumor. At the same time, the RNA-based personalized cancer vaccine developed by Turkish scientist Özlem Türeci activates the immune system more effectively than viruses.

There Are Two Important Points in Personalized Cancer Vaccines:

The first is finding the most suitable tumor antigens (neoantigens) for treatment. Perhaps the most important development for this comes from information technology. Artificial intelligence can screen millions of tumor antigens and identify the most suitable ones. The second important point is delivering these tumor antigens to T cells in some way to train them. For this purpose, genetically modified harmless viruses are used to deliver the antigens.

Gritstone Oncology had previously received another 102 million dollars in support. With Google’s investment, clinical trials will begin very soon. Personalized cancer vaccines are initially planned for patients with non-small cell lung cancer and stomach cancer .

The aim is to complete the process from tumor biopsy to vaccine production in a period as short as 1 week.

It must be emphasized that genetic therapies are considered the cancer treatments of the future. Alongside personalized cancer vaccines, CRISPR-CAS9 genetic engineering technology and approaches such as CAR-T cell therapy will also begin appearing in clinics in the near future. Cancer can only be treated through the means offered by modern medicine.

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