When Engineering Meets Cancer Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment, but most approaches are still delivered through intravenous (IV) infusion, allowing powerful immune-activating drugs to circulate throughout the body. While effective, this systemic exposure can also trigger immune responses in healthy tissues, leading to unwanted side effects.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on January 20, 2026, describes a new, engineered drug-delivery system designed to address this challenge. Developed by researchers at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the approach selectively reprograms the immune microenvironment within metastatic lymph nodes—common sites of cancer spread.

Rather than releasing treatment throughout the body via standard IV immunotherapy, the system packages an existing immunotherapy, anti-PD-1, into tiny engineered carriers. These carriers travel to lymph nodes and release the drug only when they encounter the chemical environment characteristic of cancer-affected tissue. Anti-PD-1 works by removing the “brakes” that cancer places on immune cells, enabling them to attack tumours; delivering the therapy directly to affected lymph nodes aims to enhance effectiveness while reducing side effects elsewhere in the body.

This strategy is particularly significant because lymph-node metastases are aggressive, difficult to treat, and often managed surgically—despite the essential immune functions of lymph nodes as hubs where immune cells are activated and trained to recognize disease. By enabling site-specific release of immunotherapy within metastatic lymph nodes, the study presents a selective immunoengineering approach that reactivates local antitumour immunity while sparing healthy tissue. The findings suggest a potential path toward safer and more effective immunotherapy across multiple cancer types.

More broadly, the work reflects the growing role of engineering in cancer research. As cancer biology, immunology, materials science, and nanotechnology continue to converge, multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches are enabling therapies that are not only more powerful, but also more precise and targeted for patients.

The research was led by first author Yueang Dang, PhD, under the supervision of Guojun Chen, PhD, Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute.

You can learn more about the study here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2519625123