Scientists from the United States have presented a very elegant solution to fight the tumor: they killed cancer with bacterial therapy, using the power of all vaccines injected into the body earlier in life. The first tests showed a very high effectiveness of this method, and it also reliably protects against cancer recurrence.
The idea behind the new approach, developed by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is to use the memory of the immune system to eliminate cancer. “Every person is vaccinated with many vaccinations, and we can use this against the tumor,” explained the author of the paper, Neil Forbes.
To force immune cells to attack cancer cells, scientists decided to introduce a viral molecule into the body using salmonella. The concept was tested using the chicken egg protein ovalbumin, which was delivered to pancreatic tumor cells in mice.
Ovalbumin quickly triggered an antigen-specific response of immune T cells that attacked cancer cells.
In 43% of cases, the treatment completely destroyed the tumor, and in the remaining cases, it stopped its growth and prolonged the survival of the rodents.
When cancer cells were reintroduced into the body of cured mice, no relapse occurred. “This means the emergence of immunity to cancer,” Forbes commented.
There are already preliminary successful results for liver cancer. Now scientists plan to improve the salmonella strain to make it completely safe for the human body. After that, it will be possible to judge the prospects of clinical trials.
Previously, other scientists have shown that it is possible to cope with pancreatic cancer by depriving the tumor of nutrients. The findings also give great hope for the emergence of effective treatments for cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of less than 10%.
