Gene Therapy Tested To Fight Cancer
Fifteen failures and two successes may not seem like a winning record, but for a highly unusual experimental treatment, 15 and 2 is a very promising start in what could prove to be the opening round of a revolution in cancer therapy.
Hunt like a virus, sting like a lymphocyte
The idea is ingenious: Combine a cancer-fighting cell with a virus that seeks out cancer. But of course, it's only ingenious if it works.
Types of white blood cells called lymphocytes are the body's first line of defence against cancer. Your immune system responds to the growth of cancerous cells with lymphocytes that control early cancer growth. But they can control advanced cancer - especially cancer that's spread to other parts of the body.
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) devised a unique plan to make lymphocytes more effective. First, they genetically engineered a virus to perform two tasks:
1) aggressively hunt for cancer cells, and
2) attach to the cells.
Then they extracted blood from 17 patients with advanced cases of treatment-resistant, malignant melanoma that had metastasised to other organs. Cells of the genetically enhanced virus were coupled with lymphocytes. The result: A cancer fighter hitching a ride with a tenacious cancer hunter.
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