With recent chemical engineering Ph.D. graduate Alexandra Nukovic as first author, Hatfield\u2019s team recently published a Cell Biomaterials paper<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n The vaccine\u2019s oxygen-generating feature addresses one of the major ways cancer weakens the body\u2019s defenses.<\/p>\n Most tumors contain regions where oxygen levels are very low. Known as hypoxia, this condition acts as a stealth weapon, sabotaging the immune system\u2019s attack before it even begins, Hatfield explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n Low oxygen triggers the buildup of adenosine \u2014 the same chemical that signals sleepiness in the brain. In tumors, adenosine suppresses T-cells, effectively putting them down for a nap right in the trenches.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are T-cells in here that should be recognizing and destroying the tumor cells, but they\u2019re not doing it,\u201d Hatfield said, referring to the low-oxygen tumor environment that shuts down T-cells.<\/p>\n Hypoxia can even cause defections within the immune system\u2019s ranks. Co-founder of Danish biotech company Kripthonite Therapeutics<\/a> Kristian Mark Jacobsen noted that in low oxygen conditions, immune cells known as macrophages sometimes turn from cancer fighters into tumor protectors, shielding the enemy they would normally attack.<\/p>\n Moreover, in spite of being a promising treatment strategy, vaccines themselves are associated with hypoxia at injection sites. The flurry of cellular activity uses up oxygen, hampering the very immune response the vaccine is meant to trigger.<\/p>\n The new platform Hatfield and his colleagues developed counters this effect. By generating oxygen locally, it puts immune cells in their best fighting shape before they head for the tumor. Hypoxia still awaits them when they get there, but they\u2019re better equipped to take on the cancer cells.<\/p>\n The vaccine consists of a cryogel<\/a> \u2014 a soft material with a network of interconnected pores. \u201cCryo\u201d means cold, and the name comes from the fact that it\u2019s formed at minus 20 degrees Celsius, Nukovic explained.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce it\u2019s taken out and thawed, it\u2019s very sponge-like,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The cryogel also has shape memory and can be compressed to squeeze through a syringe needle. It will then spring back into shape on the other side.\u00a0<\/p>\n That means a prick is all it takes \u2014 no surgical implantation required, Nukovic explained.<\/p>\n The effort to counter hypoxia with oxygen builds on a groundbreaking discovery Hatfield\u2019s team made more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n As they reported in Science Translational Medicine<\/a> in 2015, simply breathing oxygen-enriched air reduced hypoxia at the tumor site and allowed T-cells to put up a stronger fight.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of excitement about it,\u201d Hatfield recalled. Breathing more oxygen to fight cancer? It\u2019s easy to see the appeal.<\/p>\n However, it turned out breathing alone couldn\u2019t alleviate hypoxia in cancers that oxygen-rich blood struggled to reach.<\/p>\n The new vaccine tackles the problem from a different angle. It sets the cells up for success from the get-go rather than trying to pump oxygen to the tumor itself.<\/p>\n But oxygen is only half of its strategy.<\/p>\n The network of pores in the cryogel also acts as a tiny training station with rooms for immune cells to enter. Inside, they come into contact with antigens \u2014 proteins that teach T-cells to recognize and target cancer cells for destruction.<\/p>\n In mice with tumors grown from prostate cancer cells, the vaccine slowed tumor growth and extended survival from 47 to 76 days.<\/p>\n Northeastern Global News, Sign up for NGN\u2019s daily newsletter for news, discovery and analysis from around the world.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/090926_MM_Stephen_Hatfield_028.jpg\")
09\/09\/26 \u2013 BOSTON, MA. \u2013 Northeastern assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences Stephen Hatfield and his lab are researching an injectable vaccine scaffold that combines prolonged tumor-antigen delivery with local oxygen generation, with the goal of simultaneously addressing antigen tolerance and hypoxia-mediated immunosuppression on Sept. 9, 2026. Photo by Matthew Modoono\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/090926_MM_Stephen_Hatfield_053.jpg\")
09\/09\/26 \u2013 BOSTON, MA. \u2013 Northeastern assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences Stephen Hatfield and his lab are researching an injectable vaccine scaffold that combines prolonged tumor-antigen delivery with local oxygen generation, with the goal of simultaneously addressing antigen tolerance and hypoxia-mediated immunosuppression on Sept. 9, 2026. Photo by Matthew Modoono\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/090926_MM_Stephen_Hatfield_015.jpg\")
09\/09\/26 \u2013 BOSTON, MA. \u2013 Northeastern assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences Stephen Hatfield and his lab are researching an injectable vaccine scaffold that combines prolonged tumor-antigen delivery with local oxygen generation, with the goal of simultaneously addressing antigen tolerance and hypoxia-mediated immunosuppression on Sept. 9, 2026. Photo by Matthew Modoono\/Northeastern University
\nProfessor Stephen Hatfield and his lab study how the conditions surrounding immune cells affect whether they succeed or fail in the fight against cancer. Photos by Matthew Modoono\/Northeastern University<\/p>\n
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