• Review of mRNA-based vaccine Current advancement for Breast Cancer treatment
  • Sepideh Ebrahimian Vargahan,1 Maryam Eini,2 Arshad Hoseini,3,*
    1. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
    2. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
    3. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Breast Cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous and prevalent disease among women. The treatment of BC is complicated owing to intratumoral complexity. mRNA-based vaccines represent a promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. This review discusses mRNA-based vaccines and their current advancements in cancer treatment, especially in BC.
  • Methods: A comprehensive search was performed on literature by keywords of cancer vaccine, Breast Cancer, mRNA vaccine, and treatment in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. Articles were selected based on the exclusion criteria and were included in the study after reviewing.
  • Results: mRNA vaccines consist of three principal reagents including mRNA antigen (which can be produced in vitro by RNA polymerase transcription from DNA template), delivery system, and adjuvants. Some of the basic mechanisms of action of mRNA therapeutics are gene expression reshaping, fixing defective molecular procedures, manipulation of cellular function, boosting immunity against cancer, etc. Different preclinical studies have been conducted based on mRNA vaccines against several breast cancer antigens including HER2, MUC1, p53, CEA or IL12 expressing vectors. In addition, there are 6 and 2 of phase I and phase II clinical trials respectively regarding breast cancer mRNA vaccines.
  • Conclusion: Considering the newly designed trials that are testing this novel era, its therapeutic potential has yet to be determined. However, the ability to genetic manipulation or personalized mRNA vaccines as well as their ease of production and cost-effectiveness has made them an interesting and developing therapeutic approach.
  • Keywords: Cancer vaccine, Breast cancer, mRNA vaccine, Treatment