Experimental cancer vaccine makes its own oxygen and gives T-cells a boost

September 15, 2026
2:34 pm

When it comes to priorities in life, oxygen tops the list. Humans can go weeks without food and days without water. Take away the ability to breathe, however, and the clock starts ticking within minutes as the brain begins shutting down. But the life-giving gas does even more heavy lifting than you might think.

The immune system, which battles cancer with the help of specialized fighters, such as T cells, relies on oxygen to mount its attack.

Now, Bouvé College of Health Sciences professor and director of the pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences graduate program Stephen Hatfield and his colleagues are enlisting oxygen in the cancer fight with a new vaccine designed to give T cells a powerful edge.

With recent chemical engineering Ph.D. graduate Alexandra Nukovic as first author, Hatfield’s team recently published a paper in Cell Biomaterials describing the vaccine. It generates oxygen by triggering a chemical reaction at the injection site. It also sets up a training ground where T cells get a crash course in identifying enemy cells they can then target for destruction.

Experimental cancer vaccine makes its own oxygen and gives T-cells a boost

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