Artificial Intelligence in the Fight Against Melanoma: A Cancer Vaccine Project Is in the Works

Canadian scientists have used artificial intelligence to create a vaccine model that could help the immune system fight melanoma, one of the most dangerous skin cancers. Although research is in its early stages, the vaccine design has demonstrated high effectiveness in computer tests. This is a step toward faster, more accurate, and more personalized cancer treatment.

Scientists at the University of Alberta have unveiled a melanoma vaccine project designed using artificial intelligence. As doctoral candidate Saba Ismail, the study's lead author, emphasizes, the goal is to "teach the body's immune system to fight cancer." The research is being conducted in the laboratory of Professor Khaled Barakat in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the results have been published in the journal Computers in Biology and Medicine .

Although the vaccine is only a theoretical model for now, as Barakat points out, "it is an exciting step on a very long road."

The vaccine uses so-called neoantigens , markers specific to cancer cells that are recognized by the immune system as "foreign." These markers allow T lymphocytes to target and destroy cancer cells.

Ismail and Barakat started with 750 potential neoantigens and used AI algorithms to narrow the list to the eight most promising ones. They then combined these eight antigens into a single "vaccine construct" that, computational tests showed, could elicit a strong immune response.

To increase effectiveness, scientists added an adjuvant to the vaccine—a substance that enhances the immune response. The neoantigens are linked using amino acid linkers , which spatially separate them so they don't interfere with each other's activity. This technical solution increases the immunogenicity of the entire structure.

The computer model also considered the allergenicity and toxicity of the vaccine candidates to rule out adverse reactions. Furthermore, Ismail emphasizes, the vaccine has "high binding affinity for immune receptors"—meaning it effectively binds to the immune system and can activate its function.

Although the vaccine has not yet been tested on living cells, the scientists hope that their model could become the basis for future therapies not only for melanoma but also for other cancers . The researchers plan to create a repeatable protocol that will allow for a quick comparison of healthy and cancer cells in a given patient, and then design a personalized vaccine.