Cancer cells are now able to disable the immune cells that are capable of killing them. The switch is meant for much more innocent reasons, such as allowing a child to be carried and now Cancer Research UK scientists are aware of a way to reverse the process and let the system realise that there are cancerous cells present. The immune cells still have a big part to play, but the scientists set the process in motion.
The treatment would work by taking a biopsy of a tumour and then identify immune cells that are already inside. Those cells are likely to me most effective as the fact that they are in the tumour suggests they were trying to attack it before they got switched off.
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TALEN is then used; this is a technique that genetically edits the cell and the start to multiply. They will then be able to fight cancer effectively and also stop it from coming back. The tests have been carried out on mice and the tumours shrunk by up to 80%. Cancer Research’s Dr. Alan Worsley is excited by the findings and believes they are halting the switching off process. Unlike chemotherapy that works for a small period, this will carry on, and there are already certain drugs of this type already available. The problem is that there are side effects and in some cases the immune system attacks cells that are still healthy.
