In clinical trials of immunotherapy, scientists modified the body’s immune system to defend itself against cancer throughout its life, in a manner similar to a vaccine.
Work is underway on a revolutionary anti-cancer therapy. The new drug is designed to remember the disease and prevent the body from coming back.
Researchers are trying to modify the cells of the immune system so that they not only provoke the body’s natural defenses to fight cancer, but also guard against recurrence of the disease for the rest of their lives, acting in a similar way as a vaccine.
The researchers compare the new therapy to a “living medicine” that constantly looks for disease recurrence and rapidly eliminates cancer cells from the body.
A study presented at the American Society for Scientific Advancement’s annual symposium in Washington, DC, showed that modified T cells can survive in the body for at least 14 years.
Professor Chiara Bonini, hematologist at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita e Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, explains: ‘T cells are a living medicine and, interestingly, they have the potential to persist in the body throughout life.
– Imagine that you are immune to the flu or any other disease after being vaccinated as a child for your whole life. How does it happend? Well, after encountering an antigen, a T lymphocyte activates and kills the pathogen, but also functions as a memory lymphocyte.
“Now imagine that this translates into cancer immunotherapy, that the T cells remember the tumor and are ready to defend themselves when they relapse.”
Clinical trials at a hospital in Milan included 10 patients after bone marrow transplantation who were also treated with therapies to stimulate the immune system, including T cells. After 14 years after administration, T cells were still active in the body.
There are many indications that immunotherapies – therapies that modify the immune system – will replace chemotherapy that destroys cells. One of the most important challenges remains how to keep the beneficial changes long enough to prevent the cancer from coming back.
The Milan experiment showed for the first time that T lymphocytes are able to survive in the body much longer than traditional anti-cancer therapy works.
Prof. Bonini and her team are working on a new type of immune cell that uses antigen receptors to find and destroy the cells of various types of cancer. In combination with T lymphocytes, they constitute a therapy that effectively immunizes the body against cancer.
“When a T lymphocyte encounters an antigen, it activates, kills the pathogen, and remains in the body as a memory lymphocyte,” the researcher explains.
– Some of these lymphocytes will stay in the body for life and if they encounter the same pathogen – e.g. if the same flu strain returns after 10 years – there are memory lymphocytes in the body that recognize the disease from years ago and kill the pathogen instantly, so that the patient she won’t even know she’s relapsed.
Daniel Davis, professor of immunology at the University of Manchester, believes this is a significant advance in cancer treatment. – Giving a genetically modified version of specific memory lymphocytes can be an effective long-term immune response to the emergence of cancer cells – says the scientist.
– Immunotherapy has great potential and could revolutionize cancer therapy. This study showed that a certain type of T-cell may be particularly useful in the fight against cancer in the long term.
– This is an extremely interesting field of research, there is no doubt about it. Extensive knowledge of T lymphocytes turned out to be very useful, because thanks to it we have valuable new ideas in the fight against cancer.
During the symposium of the American Society for the Advancement of Science, American scientists presented their own immunotherapy using T lymphocytes in the fight against leukemia. The effectiveness of the new method is unprecedented – 94% were cured. patients who were previously given a few months or less to live.
American scientists talk about the “incredible” success of the first clinical trials.
Stanley Riddell of the Cancer Research Center Fred Hutchinson in Seattle, explains that the therapy based on selecting the appropriate types of immune cells and enriching them with molecules sensitive to the presence of cancer cells saved the lives of patients with leukemia who have failed other therapies.
His team treated 26 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia so advanced that they were given two to five months to live when they started treatment. After 18 months, 24 patients were in complete remission.
– These are patients who have failed all other therapies, says Prof. Riddell. – It’s amazing. Honestly, no case has ever been reported in medicine that could achieve such an impressive result in patients in such an advanced stage.
Cancer: five signs that must not be ignored:
- Sudden weight loss without dieting
- Traces of blood in stool or urine
- Coughing up blood
- A lump in the breast, groin, testicles in the neck or armpit
- Acute pain for an unknown reason