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10
Jul 2018
New drug helps body to ‘eat and destroy’ cancer cells
Scientists have developed a new drug to eat and destroy cancerous cells by boosting the action of white blood cells that the immune system uses to destroy unwanted invaders.
The therapy has been successfully tested on mice with aggressive skin and breast tumours and the team behind the study hope to start human trials within the next few years.
Treatments used to target the immune system in fighting cancer cells are a growing area of research which international scientists are increasingly investigating.
This latest drug – a “supramolecule” – is built from components which fit together like building blocks. As it already has a licence, the team behind the study say this should hasten the process.
The work involves the use of devouring immune cells (microphages). These are already effective at fighting viral and bacterial infections because they recognise and are able to attack these ‘foreign’ invaders, but so far have been unable to tackle cancer tumours, as these grow from our own cells.
However, the new drug works in two ways. It stops cancer cells from sending out their hiding mechanisms and it prevents the tumour from telling macrophages to turn docile.
Cancer Research UK’s Carl Alexander, said “It’s promising to see yet another new approach. More work is now needed to show that this approach could be used to treat cancer patients.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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