Scientists have a safer way to treat cancer than chemotherapy and radiation

Scientists have found a new way to treat cancer, based on healthy immune cells themselves.

For the first time in history, scientists have discovered that if a patient's immune cells cannot detect and block the tumor, then another person's immune cells will be able to do it. .

In a recent study, scientists tried to inject a number of healthy immune cell components (called T cells - a type of white blood cells) into the weakened immune system of a cancer patient. letter. Amazing results, these healthy immune cells can "impart" to the weaker cells how to recognize and attack cancer cells.

A healthy T cell in the human body.

"In another way, our research has shown that the immune system in cancer patients can be enhanced in one way or another," said Ton Schumacher from the Institute of Cancer Research. Dutch speech.

This requires finding the right source of donor T cells to match the newly formed antibodies in the patient's body. Since these receptors produce these T cells that convert T cells within the patient, adding them to the ability to detect cancer cells in the body.

At this time, the treatment for cancer is mostly about putting chemicals in patients in an effort to destroy cancer cells (chemotherapy) or use powerful rays to shine on patients (radiation). treatment). Both ways are not thorough. So scientists around the world are still looking for a different solution, safer for patients.

Cancer treatment with radiotherapy.

Instead of using radiotherapy or chemotherapy to attack cancer cells (even attacking other healthy cells around), the method of boosting the immune system for patients will increase their resistance to disease. of the patient's own, strengthening their own immune system against cancer cells in the body. This may be a new hope for cancer patients who are relying on radiotherapy or chemotherapy to fight the disease.

Normally, when a person is ill, T cells are responsible for detecting foreign disease cells, and once these foreign cells are within sight, T cells will cling to them and signaling the immune system to attack.

But with cancer completely different, untraceable T cells operate for two reasons: cancer cells have a covering, so T cells cannot "stick" to them, or simply is that these cancer cells are not included in the "black list" of T cells, there will be no warning signals sent to the immune system.

In one trial, the scientists obtained very positive results when taking T-cells from leukaemia patients (malignant leukemia, also known as leukemia), "reprogramming " Leave them so they can attack a certain type of cancer, and bring them back into the patient's body."

In that trial, 94% of patients with lymphocytic leukemia (a form of leukaema disease) no longer had symptoms. For patients with different types of blood cancers, the positive response rate is more than 80%, half of which have obvious signs of remission.

Maybe in the future there will be no need for chemotherapy to treat cancer.

Another way is to use another healthy immune system to " re- activate the damaged immune system , causing them to return to function." In some recent studies, a team from the Dutch Cancer Institute and the University of Oslo pulled T cells from a healthy donor source, and added modified DNA of the cancer cells to the disease. multiply.

They monitored the progression of the disease in three patients, the cancer cells in their bodies had new antibodies attached, but no antibodies were detected by T cells. Fortunately, they have feedback to immune cells from that healthy donor source.

So the team brought in three cancer patients with these healthy immune cells, and the patient's immune system began to detect cancer cells and get feedback.

So basically, they "borrow" another immune system to "click" on the cancer patient's immune system to respond to those cancer cells.

Although it is only a small-scale test, these positive reactions are promising results for a newer method of cancer treatment in the future. But first, the need to expand the research experiment.

And to have a future without chemotherapy and radiotherapy, billionaire Sean Parker invests $ 250 million in research to promote this whole immune system.

Sean Parker and his investment in mid-April.

This method is very promising, but will need a lot of effort from scientists worldwide. Let us hope in a future that each person's own immune system will be able to fight cancer cells, no longer need to pump dozens of chemicals into people or sit for hours doing radiotherapy.