Scientists at University College London said they have found a way to get the immune system to fight cancer. Researchers have found unique biological markers in the tumor that they dubbed the "Achilles heel" of the disease. An article about the discovery was published in the journal Science, and briefly about it on Friday, March 4, writes The Guardian.
Scientists have found that as cancer cells grow and spread throughout the body, they carry with them a certain set of biomarkers - surface proteins. Having found them, you can direct the work of the immune system to fight the cells containing them.
The method is based on the study of the patient's DNA and, according to scientists, it can replace chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Instead, a vaccine will be proposed based on proteins extracted from a patient's cancer. It will "launch" the immune system to target cancer cells.
According to BBC News, the new method has not yet been tested on patients. Scientists hope to test it in the next two years.
Previously, researchers have already tried to fight cancer with the forces of the patient's immune system, but failed. It has been suggested that the cause was an incorrectly assigned target to the body. The problem is that cancer cells are not identical, they undergo numerous mutations, their appearance and behavior can be very different.
“We have discovered for the first time that a tumor actually leaves traces of its own destruction. The immune cells in the tumor recognize these markers,”said one expert.
It is noted that the new form of treatment may be most effective for cancers such as melanoma or lung cancer. In addition, scientists declare that the cost of such procedures cannot be low.
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