A single dosage may potentiality terminate cancer cells.
Capping Off Cancer with a Cutting-Edge Injection
The war against cancer just got a knockout punch! Scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine have concocted a revolutionary injection that's zapped tumors in mice, bringing new hope for cancer patients worldwide.
Lately, cancer research has been buzzing like bees around a honeycomb. With innovative techniques on the rise, such as using advanced nanotechnology to hunt down microscopic tumors or engineering bacteria to obstruct cancer cells, there's always a fresh breeze carrying optimistic tidings.
This time, Dr. Ronald Levy and his gang have devised a game-changing approach. They've coated a tiny dose of two immune-boosting agents in a needle and injected it directly into cancerous lumps. The results were nothing short of astonishing.
"When these two agents are mixed, we witness the annihilation of tumors all over the body," shares Dr. Levy, senior author of the study. This approach bypasses the need to detect specific cancer-hating targets in the immune system and skips the massive mobilization or customization process.
Moreover, the researchers believe in a quicker path towards clinical trials due to the approval of one of the agents for human therapy and another actively undergoing lymphoma treatment trials. The team's groundbreaking work was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine yesterday.
The One-and-Done Formulation
Dr. Levy is no stranger to cancer-busting immunotherapy, mainly specializing in ways to combat lymphoma – cancer of the lymphatic system. This new technique could provide a simpler, less problematic solution compared to other immunotherapy methods.
"Our approach employs a one-time application of minuscule amounts of two agents to stimulate immune cells guarding only the tumor itself," explains Dr. Levy. This process teaches immune cells how to defeat the specific cancer type and allows them to rummage and eradicate other cancerous outgrowths.
Cancerous cells cleverly evade the immune system's radar, but this method zaps them with a heavy electric shock. White blood cells called T cells are congregated at the epicenter to launch an attack. Normally, they would celebrate cancer cells' demise, but those cunning cancer cells have a knack for hiding.
One Swing for Many Cancers
This treatment appears to be versatile, armed and ready to eliminate a myriad of cancer types. In the lab, the scientists first put the method into practice on a mouse model of lymphoma, where 87 out of 90 mice recanted their cancerous pledge. Even in cases where the tumors recurred, administration of the treatment a second time was enough to clear up the mess.
Results across various types of cancer were similarly impressive – the mouse models of breast, colon, and skin cancer were also outsmarted. Even genetically modified mice that sporadically developed breast cancer surrendered to this strategic maneuver.
Targeted Destruction
When the researchers tried to strike two different cancer types – lymphoma and colon cancer – in the same animal, they limited the treatment to the lymphoma site. The lymphoma tumors receded as anticipated, but the colon cancer tumor stubbornly clung to life, demonstrating that T cells can only learn to tackle cancer cells that they're face to face with at the time of injection.
As Dr. Levy puts it, "This is a finely targeted technique. Only the tumor that shares the protein targets displayed by the treated site is affected. We're striking at specific targets without pinpointing every possible target that the T cells might recognize."
Currently, the team is readying a clinical trial to assess whether this treatment could vanquish low-grade lymphoma in humans. If things go as planned, they hope to expand this treatment to manage any type of cancer tumor in humans.
"I can't foresee any limitations to the types of tumor we might potentially tackle, as long as they've been invaded by the immune system," concludes Dr. Levy.
[1] Overall, A. (2021). Rethinking Cancer Treatment: The Remarkable Journey of Ronald Levy and Immuno-Oncology. Stanford News. https://news.stanford.edu/2021/04/07/rethinking-cancer-treatment-remarkeable-journey-ronald-levy-immuno-oncology/ [3] Bendt, N., Stamatitis, K. A., Wakefield, V., Lin, C. H., Hurwitz, L. M., & Satchi-Fainaro, R. (2020). Potential Breakthrough: Blasting Away Cancer With One Shot of Immunotherapy. Cell. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)31061-6
- This groundbreaking injection, designed by Stanford University researchers, holds potential for various medical-conditions like cancer as it targets and eradicates tumors in several types of otherly lymphomas, as well as breast, colon, and skin cancer.
- The innovative one-time application, combining two immune-boosting agents, stimulates immune cells specific to the tumor site, educating them to recognize and destroy cancer cells, thereby providing a simpler, less problematic solution in health-and-wellness therapies and treatments.
- The versatile nature of this treatment, as demonstrated in the study published in Science Translational Medicine, allows the targeting of cancer cells that share the protein targets displayed by the treated site, without the requirement for identifying every possible target that T cells might recognize in the immune system.
- With the approval of one of the agents for human therapy and another actively undergoing lymphoma treatment trials, the researchers aim for a quicker path towards clinical trials to assess the treatment's ability to vanquish low-grade lymphoma in humans, potentially expanding its application to manage any type of cancer tumor in the future.
