- Team led by Professor Nam Jae-hwan of Department of the Medical and Biological Sciences developed a cure for HPV-derived cervical cancer using a self-developed mRNA platform

- Published in the most prominent virology journal “Journal of Medical Virology (IF=9.399)

*Illustration: How mRNA HPV treatment vaccine works (Right) After injecting the mRNA HPV treatment vaccine into a test mouse implanted with a cervical cancer cell, the cancer tumor downsized or was completely eliminated, confirmed using the PET method.

The anticancer cure that uses the domestic mRNA platform was developed for the first time in Korea.  The mRNA platform was developed by CUK (President Won Jong-chul) Professor Nam Jae-hwan of the Department of Medical and Biological Sciences and his team, and they succeeded in developing a cure for cervical cancer caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

mRNA is an agent that delivers genetic information to the cells in the body. It was very effective as a preventive vaccine that deters virus infection during the COVID-19 pandemic, and recently, the vaccine development using this mRNA to cure cancer became one of the most popular subjects in the research circle.

Professor Nam and his team made use of their experience in mRNA prevention and treatment vaccine development to successfully develop the cure for cervical cancer caused by HPV. This marks the first time ever for the mRNA anticancer treatment to be developed using only Korean original technologies.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) study, cervical cancer ranks fourth in terms of cancer that breaks out most frequently in women, and it kills 310,000 people every year around the globe. Given that the incidence rate is particularly high in countries with low and middle-income countries and since the virus is transferred mainly by sexual intercourse, surgery, radiation, and chemical therapy treatment posed several challenges, and therefore, a new type of treatment was required.

Professor Nam and his team transformed the Type 16 and Type 18 (high-risk virus in HPV) E6 and E7 genes to not cause cancer and then actualized them on the mRNA platform. Afterward, they vaccinated the test mouse that was implanted with a cervical cancer cell with mRNA vaccine. As a result, most of the cancer cell growth was controlled or completely eradicated. Even after 62 days of vaccination and after receiving another implant of cervical cancer cells, the cancer was found to have not grown at all in the mouse. This confirmed that the immunity reaction developed by mRNA was said to be maintained for a long period of time. Moreover, it showed excellent immunity reaction in the test done on the Macaque monkey as well, which raised the anticipation that the vaccine could be used for humans as well.

The said study was conducted with the funding of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s project to research and develop the toxicity level of mRNA vaccines, and it was led by Ph.D. Candidate Lee Seong-hyeon and Professor Yoon Hyeon-ho in Professor Nam's research team in CUK Medical & Biotechnology Department's, in tandem with the research team led by Professor Lee Si-eun of Chonnam National University. This research finding was published in the most prominent journal in virology, “Journal of Medical Virology (IF=12.7)” and was acknowledged for its excellence.

“We were able to develop the native mRNA anticancer treatment for the first time in Korea as we have been personally developing the expressome and transporter technology for mRNA vaccine development since 2022. It became a solid foundation for the production of locally developed mRNA vaccines,” said Professor Nam. He then added, “Clinical trials will be conducted on this vaccine, and various ways will be reviewed to determine how it can be developed to be a cure for cancer.”