In June 2003 the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, the Hon Peter McGauran, visited the melanoma research laboratory in the School of Physics. With him are Dr Galina Kaseko, Dr Tohsak Mahaworasilpa and Prof Hans Coster.

Principal researchers from the Department of Biophysics, Drs Galina Kaseko and Tohsak Mahaworasilpa, and Professor Hans Coster, are researching methods for producing an anti-melanoma vaccine.

Cancer cells are the body’s cells which proliferate uncontrollably and become abnormal. They survive in the body partly because they escape detection by the body’s usually very efficient immune system. Melanoma is one of the more aggressive cancers.

Our strategy is to put a suite of “markers” on melanoma cells to enhance the recognition and response of the immune system to these cells. The concept is that, if stimulated properly, our own immune system can then successfully deal with the cancer cells. Indeed in people who have had spontaneous remissions from such cancers, it is known that this is correlated to the presence of antibodies – the ‘magic bullets’ of the immune system – directed against tumour-associated antigens.

We have developed techniques for creating human cell lines that express on their surface the cardinal attributes of a super-set of melanoma antigens. Cell membrane preparations of such engineered cells expressing multiple idiotypic melanoma tumour antigens could be used as a potent and tissue-generic melanoma vaccine. Alternatively, radiation inactivated whole cells from such a cell line could provide the basis of such a vaccine. Our technology has important advantages in that:

• The vaccine so derived will contain a super-set of melanoma antigens.
• The antigens can be produced from the culture of a single cell line.
• The vaccine will be produced in human cells (grown in culture).

Our research has the potential to develop a product with the potential to slash the national and personal cost of melanoma cancers, which is of particular importance in Australia.

Galina Kaseko and Tohsak Mahaworasilpa