Flu Shot Injected Into Melanoma Tumors Shrank Cancer in Early Ohio State Trial

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (TodayViralUSA) — An ordinary seasonal flu shot, injected directly into melanoma tumors, appeared to rally the immune system against the cancer in a small early-stage trial, offering a glimpse of a cheap, off-the-shelf approach in a field dominated by costly custom therapies.

Doctors at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center treated 18 patients whose skin cancer could be removed surgically. By the time the tumors were taken out, seven had begun to shrink and three patients had no remaining cancer cells, according to findings first reported by The Washington Post.

Tricking the body into a fight

The idea is to make the immune system treat the tumor as if it were an infection. Each patient first received a standard flu shot in the arm. A couple of days later, doctors injected the same vaccine into the tumor itself, then repeated the tumor injection 12 days after that. For most participants, the dose delivered to the tumor was about three times that of a normal flu shot.

About two weeks later, surgeons removed the tumors. Most tissue samples were packed with immune cells, and blood tests showed signs that patients’ immune systems had been activated. No serious side effects were reported.

Promising, but preliminary

The results were presented Friday at a cancer immunotherapy meeting in Phoenix and have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Because the trial had no comparison group, it cannot show that the vaccine caused the tumor responses.

The approach is also limited to tumors that can be reached with a needle. Researchers are now testing repeated injections combined with checkpoint inhibitor drugs in patients whose melanoma has spread.

The research comes as the U.S. flu season gets underway, with physicians urging Americans to get vaccinated for its primary purpose: preventing influenza.