Injected Cells Cure Tumors in Mice

[CAcyclist]

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-cancer9may09,0,4476073.story?coll=la-story-footer

Injected Cells Cure Tumors in Mice
Researchers hope the phenomenon can lead to a new path in treating cancer in humans.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer
May 9, 2006

White blood cells from mice that are naturally immune to cancer cured tumors in other mice and provided them with lifelong immunity to the disease, researchers reported Monday.

The finding indicates the existence of a biological pathway previously unsuspected in any species. A small team of researchers is working to understand the genetic and immunological basis of the surprising phenomenon.
>snip<
In the new study, the team took white blood cells from the immune mice — a combination of natural killer cells, macrophages and neutrophils — and injected them into mice already carrying a variety of tumors, some of which were extremely aggressive. In every case, the cancers were destroyed, even if the cells were injected at a point distant from the tumor. Healthy tissues were not affected.

The mice that received the cells, furthermore, were protected from new tumors for the rest of their lives. The researchers have no idea how the immunity continues.

"This is the first report of a novel mechanism," said Dr. Andrew Raubitschek, a cancer immunologist at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte. "The two most dramatic things are: one, that the response itself is outstanding, and two, the fact that they looked at a variety of different cell lines and found the activity was there for all of them."

The fact that the immunity can be transferred between mice indicates that the phenomenon is more than a simple aberration in one strain of mice and gives hope that such manipulations can lead to a therapy for humans.
>snip<

[Emillereid]

1. WOW AND DOUBLE WOW!

[EVDebs]

2. Finally, some GOOD NEWS for a change.

But I'd be willing to be R's are busy cutting the funding for this research...Attaboy, Grover !

[Canuckistanian]

14. I was going to post the same thing

My first thought was - when will their federal funding be cut off?

What cynics we are, eh?

[EVDebs]

16. No cynicism but realistically, do you expect miracles from R's

Their actions speak louder than any words possibly could. That's the gist of William Rivers Pitt's new column response on the Colbert story by WashPost's Richard Cohen.

[rodeodance]

3. Big Pharm will not like this new development at all.

[0007]

6. Neither will the Cancer Industry such as M D Anderson

[OzarkDem]

8. MD Anderson is a great place

They've saved many lives and done a great deal of good research.

Immunotherapy for cancer has been researched for a decade or more. While these research findings are encouraging, its wise to keep in mind that scientists found cures for cancer in mice a long time ago. Its translating those cures to humans that is the difficult part. Immunotherapy still holds great promise and there are a lot of researchers and clinicians working on it.

Regardless of how cancer ends up being treated, cured or prevented - through surgery, medical oncology, radiotherapy, immunology or any combination of those, companies will still have to invest in developing treatments or vaccines and cancer centers will still be needed to diagnose and treat patients.

And most of us cancer survivors are happy to have them doing the work, or we wouldn't be here.

[0007]

9. They've save mine also. It is a great place. I have to go back next

week for a few days. Been doing this since 2000

[wiley]

12. 100% Accurate

Glad you made it!

I'm on the outcomes evaluation end of the whole system. What we have been able to accomplish has been lifesaving for many people. We still don't have cures, but compared to 20 years ago when every case was a brutal slaughter, we're doing better.
I'm thrilled that places like MD Anderson have something I can offer, including remissions and restoration of health in some cases. This care should be available to all regardless of financial means. That's the problem, not the treatments (which can be severely harsh) and care (which we just need more of).


Any basic science discovery has the potential to affect billions of lives and hopefully they will figure it out. It may take several billion dollars, minimum, but if it works it will make it through the process. Without the pharmaceutical industry that would not happen. Now if they would learn to stop charging so much for their drugs, things would be better.

[0rganism]

18. Watch for a patent on white blood cells any day now

Those who generate white blood cells for distribution rather than personal use will be accused of copyright violations. Only special FDA-approved pharma-manufactured blood cells will be legit for therapy.

Think I'm kidding? Just wait for it.

[Greeby]

4. Aye, defintely could do with some good news

Been incredibly depressed lately :)

[ThomCat]

5. I hope they can find a way to translate this safely to people.

It would be absolutely awesome to have a vaccine against cancer.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. "The researchers have no idea how the immunity continues."

Um, er, What is the injections altered their DNA, Alex?

:banghead:

[donco6]

11. Not necessarily.

There's a lot of research that seems to point to a cancer fighting immune response, more like an immunization rather than a gene altering process. Except in this case, it's kinda ghostly - because they can't find anything physical that is at work.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. Aren't the creation of chemicals that initiate an "immune response"

spurred by the genetic code?

I'm an admitted back-pedaling biology student. Show me the light.

[donco6]

15. I'm no biologist!

But I remember reading about this very phenom (being a cancer survivor myself). They said that true gene therapy actually rearranges your own genes, and that THAT was a promising field fer sure. But, in the course of their work, they were finding that just by injecting these white blood cells from immune mice into a tumor it was causing some sort of "ghost" reaction (their words) and the tumor would disappear - even though the genes of the infected mouse didn't change at all. And the mouse STAYED uninfected!

Maybe I've got it wrong, and I can't find the article anymore. But it reminded me of The Dancing Wu Li Masters.

[CAcyclist]

17. Right, this isn't gene therapy

Your understanding is how I understood the article as well.

[Miss Chybil]

10. Hallelujah! nt