A universal cancer vaccine is on the horizon after scientists discovered how to rewire immune cells to fight any type of disease.The potential new therapy involves injecting tiny particles of the genetic code into the body, which travel to the immune cells and teach them to recognise specific cancers.Although scientists have previously shown that is it is possible to engineer immune cells outside the body so they can spot cancer, it is the first time it has happened inside cells.And because the genetic code could be programmed for any cancer, it means the technique could be universal. All doctors would need is the genetic profile of the tumour to make a custom-made vaccine which, as well as fighting the disease, would prevent it ever returningTests in mice showed that the vaccine triggered a strong immune response, while trials in three skin cancer patients demonstrated that the treatment could be tolerated."The vaccines are fast and inexpensive to produce, and virtually any tumour antigen can be encoded by RNA," said lead author Prof Ugur Sahin, managing director of Translational Oncology at the Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany."The approach introduced here may be regarded as a universally applicable novel vaccine class for cancer immunotherapy."The team focused on a class of immune cells called dendritic cells, which are constantly on the lookout for foreign invaders in the body. Once a dendritic cell spots a rogue cell like cancer, it captures molecules from the surface and presents it to killer T-cells to instruct it to begin fighting the disease.However, cancer cells look very similar to normal cells and so the immune system often avoids them.The new technology involves placing a small piece of the genetic code in a nanoparticle and giving it a slightly negative charge so it is drawn to dendritic immune cells in the spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow. ..