A cancer 'vaccine' is completely eliminating tumors in mice
Channel: Tey Yomiko
Date: 2018-02-02

A cancer 'vaccine' is completely eliminating tumors in mice

A new cancer treatment experiment at Stanford University that used immune-

stimulators to target tumors in mice had remarkably encouraging results.

After injecting a combination of two immune boosters directly into solid 

mouse tumors, the research team said the vaccination eliminated all traces 

of the specifically targeted cancer from the animal's entire body — 

including metastases that were previously untreated.

"When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumors 

all over the body," senior author of the study, Dr. Ronald Levy told the 

Stanford Medicine News Center. "This approach bypasses the need to identify 

tumor-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 immune "agents" used in the study, published in the journal 

Science Translational Medicine, one has already been approved for use in 

humans and the second is currently involved in a lymphoma treatment trial.

The study explained that when an immune system detects cancer cells in the 

body, its T cells attack the tumor but, over time, the tumor devises ways 

to overpower the immune cells and continues to grow.

In Levy's experiment, the cancer-fighting T cells from the immune system 

were rejuvenated when a microgram (one-millionth of a gram) amount of the 

two immune boosters was injected into a mouse's lymphoma tumor. Those same 

cells then moved on from the tumor it destroyed to find any other identical 

cancers in the body. Although the injection was successful in eliminating 

the targeted tumors present in the mouse, the T cells did not move on to a 

colon cancer tumor also found in the animal.

"This is a very targeted approach," Levy said. "Only the tumor that shares 

the protein targets displayed by the treated site is affected. We're 

attacking specific targets without having to identify exactly what proteins 

the T cells are recognizing."

The experiment was replicated in 90 other mice and was successful in 

eradicating the tumors in 87 of them, allowing the researchers to declare 

them cancer-free. The cancer did recur in three of the animals, but the 

tumors later regressed after another round of immune treatment. The study 

was also successful in mice that had breast, colon and melanoma tumors.

"I don't think there's a limit to the type of tumor we could potentially 

treat," Levy said, "as long as it has been infiltrated by the immune 

system."

Unlike other cancer treatments already on the market, this method negated 

the need to infiltrate the animal's whole immune system or use samples from 

its body. In some cancer therapies that already exist, like T-cell 

treatment used to combat leukemia and lymphoma, the patient's immune cells 

need to be removed from the body and then are genetically altered to fight 

the cancerous cells before being reintroduced to a person's system. This 

method is expensive, involves a lengthy treatment process and comes with a 

battery of rough side effects. But the new method is simpler.

"All of these immunotherapy advances are changing medical practice," Levy 

said. "Our approach uses a one-time application of very small amounts of 

two agents to stimulate the immune cells only within the tumor itself. In 

the mice, we saw amazing, body-wide effects, including the elimination of 

tumors all over the animal."

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8c-enNLOhBmoqNIUpY1QMQszVfc3yLT-