Cancer breakthrough? 97 percent of mice cured in Stanford vaccine study

[Ron]

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Cancer-breakthrough-97-percent-of-mice-cured-in-12547552.php
Excerpt:

A Stanford University study targeting cancer cells in laboratory mice has been generating buzz and hope.

A new experiment for cancer treatment had incredible results using immune-stimulators to target tumors in mice. Specifically activating T cells in tumors eliminated even distant metastases in mice, according to a study published this week by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The approach worked surprisingly well in laboratory mice with transplanted mouse lymphoma tumors in two sites on their bodies. Injecting one tumor site with the two agents caused the regression of both the treated tumor as well as the second untreated tumor.

In all, 87 of 90 mice were cured of the cancer. Although the cancer recurred in three of the mice, the tumors again regressed after a second treatment, according to the peer-reviewed research.

 

[Wonko]

Of course it might be cheaper, given the apparently absurdly high incidences of cancers in mice located in Stanford, to simply relocate the mice to somewhere else, where mice don't seem to have such a high cancer risk.

 

[Forbin]

I read about this. I believe they inject a really, really small amount of the two agents into a solid mass tumor. Somehow, this stimulates the immune system to go after the particular type of cancer cell that is the targeted by the injection. So much so that the immune system goes after the same cancer cell type even if it has metastasized to distant locations in the body. It only works on solid body tumors, so I guess maybe not on blood cancers. They said it should work on solid tumors so long as they could be reached by the immune system. I'm not sure what that means unless it has something to do with the blood/brain barrier or something like that. They seemed pretty amazed by the results. Hopefully, it will work in people as well as it has in mice, but that is sometimes a big hurdle.

 

[Adrian]

I think I read about similar approaches for Leukemia a few years ago. But this seemed to be taking blood out and 'training' cells to recognize the cancer and then putting them back.