Scientists Find Cancer’s ‘Achilles Heel’
Researchers have developed a new cancer treatment that targets the “Achilles heel” of cancer cells and hope to test it in two year’s time, according to the journal Science.
Researchers from MIT, Harvard and University College London have found a way to locate unique markings within a cancerous tumor that allow the body’s immune system to target the disease.
One problem with developing vaccines to target cancer is that the malign cells are not identical but in fact heavily mutated.
“Many cancers are not standing still but they keep evolving constantly,” Dr. Marco Gerlinger of the Institute of Cancer Research told the BBC. “These are moving targets which makes it difficult to get them under control.”
Unlike previous attempts at developing cancer vaccines, researchers believe they have found a way to trace a tumor’s surface proteins, which are both the cause of cancerous mutation and a recurring “flag” in the constitution of a tumor.
Charles Swanton, a cancer expert who led the study, said that his team of researchers found that in some cases the immune system knew to target malignant cells based on these “flags” but was often too weak to do so.
“What we’ve found for the first time is that tumors essentially sow the seeds of their own destruction,” Swanton told the Guardian. “And that within tumors, there are immune cells that recognize those flags which are present in every tumor cell.”
The new treatment being developed would involve the creation of a kind of booster shot, made up after a biopsy of immune cells inside the tumor that recognize these flags. The cells would be multiplied in a lab, and then re-infused into the patient.
“This work is right on the cutting edge,” Swanton added. “The next stage will be to expand the approach to larger cohorts and to use it as part of clinical trials.”
Researchers from MIT, Harvard and University College London have found a way to locate unique markings within a cancerous tumor that allow the body’s immune system to target the disease.
“Many cancers are not standing still but they keep evolving constantly,” Dr. Marco Gerlinger of the Institute of Cancer Research told the BBC. “These are moving targets which makes it difficult to get them under control.”
Unlike previous attempts at developing cancer vaccines, researchers believe they have found a way to trace a tumor’s surface proteins, which are both the cause of cancerous mutation and a recurring “flag” in the constitution of a tumor.
Charles Swanton, a cancer expert who led the study, said that his team of researchers found that in some cases the immune system knew to target malignant cells based on these “flags” but was often too weak to do so.
“What we’ve found for the first time is that tumors essentially sow the seeds of their own destruction,” Swanton told the Guardian. “And that within tumors, there are immune cells that recognize those flags which are present in every tumor cell.”
The new treatment being developed would involve the creation of a kind of booster shot, made up after a biopsy of immune cells inside the tumor that recognize these flags. The cells would be multiplied in a lab, and then re-infused into the patient.
“This work is right on the cutting edge,” Swanton added. “The next stage will be to expand the approach to larger cohorts and to use it as part of clinical trials.”