Cancer has long remained a leading cause of death worldwide and in Hong Kong, accounting for 30% of all disease-related deaths in the city in 2025. While chemotherapy remains a major treatment modality, its side effects and the risk of relapse challenges for patients. In recent years, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy has emerged by integrating immunology, cell therapy and gene technology, but it shows limited effectiveness against solid tumours, carries the risk of excessive immune responses, and can cost several million Hong Kong dollars per treatment.
DC therapy separates monocytes from a patient’s blood, co-cultures them with tumour antigens in vitro to generate mature dendritic cells, and reinfuses them into the body to stimulate the immune system attack cancer cells. Although DC therapy has milder side effects, its clinical outcomes remain variable and the manufacturing process is laborious and expensive. To address these bottlenecks, the team led by Professor Yung Kin-lam, Chair Professor of Biology and Neuroscience in the Department of Science and Environmental Studies and Associate Vice President (Knowledge Transfer and Sustainability) at EdUHK, developed a natural, non-toxic and highly biocompatible silica nanomatrix. This material safely and efficiently promotes DC maturation, markedly enhances T-cell recognition and killing of cancer cells, and helps to overcome tumour “camouflage” to improve targeting precision. Animal studies also show that the new technology can effectively inhibit tumour growth, prolong immune memory and strengthen the durability of the anti-tumour response.
The study is led by EdUHK in collaboration with The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, and Jinan University. The entire DC culture process takes place ex vivo, without relying on the patient’s own immune status, thereby ensuring more consistent therapeutic outcomes. This approach is particularly suitable for patients with compromised immunity after chemotherapy. The platform has been designed with standardisation and large-scale manufacturing in mind, which will help lower production costs and accelerate clinical translation.
Professor Yung noted that the new material has the potential to extend beyond cancer treatment. He explained: “In the silica nanomatrix, dendritic cells adopt a distinctive Z-shaped morphology that increases their surface contact area, enabling more effective transmission of biophysical signals and setting them apart from conventionally cultured DCs. By harnessing biophysical cues instead of high-risk manipulations, our work offers a safer and more scalable pathway for DC vaccines. In future, we will explore the potential of these novel dendritic cells in systemic lupus erythematosus and multiple sclerosis, with the aim of opening up new directions for immunomodulatory therapies.”
The research team plans to collaborate with hospitals and laboratories in Hong Kong and Mainland China to further accelerate cell culture protocols, evaluate therapeutic efficacy, and advance clinical research.
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