Scientists of Stanford University may have found a vaccine that can cure cancer. The research team directly injected a combination of two immune boosters into solid mouse tumours that eliminated all traces of cancer from the rodents’ bodies.
The study shows that the process can help cure multiple cancers including the ones that arise from using two immune-stimulating agents.
Ronald Levy, senior author of the study said, “When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumours all over the body. This approach bypasses the need to identify tumour-specific immune targets and doesn’t require wholesale activation of the immune system or customization of a patient’s immune cells.”
Out of the two immunes “agents” used in the study, one has already been permitted to be used in humans and the other agent is involved in a lymphoma treatment trial.
The research explained that when the immune system detects cancer in the body, it’s T cells attack a tumour but sooner or later, the tumour tries to fight the cells and continue to grow.
But when one-millionth of a gram amount of the two immune boosters was injected into the mouse’s lymphoma tumour, the T-cells were rejuvenated. These cells after eliminating this tumour moved on to eradicate all other cancers in the body.
Levy said, “I don’t think there’s a limit to the type of a tumour we could potentially treat, as long as it has been infiltrated by the immune system.”
The researchers successfully found similar results in mice with breast, colon and melanoma tumours. The findings were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
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