StemCell Therapy

Home Cancer New cancer treatment targeting cancer stem cells shows positive result in animal studies

Cancer is characterized by abnormal cells in the body that divide uncontrollably and have the ability to infiltrate and destroy normal body tissue. It is estimated that about 171 per 100,000 men and women will die from cancer every year, and it is considered the second leading cause of death in the U.S. Researchers estimate that approximately 39.6 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. While treatment does exist to help fight off these cellular abnormalities, they often come at a price, severely incapacitating the body and opening the potential for more opportunistic infections to occur. However, new research in the field of cancer study has uncovered new therapy in the form of a tumor vaccine that may shrink cancer, limiting the amount of side effects.

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have created a vaccine that promotes that production of cancer-fighting immune cells in animal models. This was the effort of many years of research and development whereby cancer stem cells were engineered to express a pro-inflammatory process called interleukin-15 (IL-15) and its receptor (IL-15Ralpha). These proteins increase the production of immune cells previously mentioned, called T cells, which could lead to new immunotherapy treatments for cancer with improved side effects, according to the researchers.

The researchers go on to say that T cells and natural killer cells of the body are greatly stimulated by IL-15 and that they recognize and attack tumor cells. This pro-inflammatory protein was initially used in previous studies for the treatment of cancers such as melanoma and kidney cancer but caused a number of intolerable side effects in patients. So, the researchers found a way to transfer genes from IL-15 with its receptor into cancer cells, thereby increasing the tumors cell surface presentation of IL-15 to T cells. In animal models, this stopped the tumor cells from reproducing with little evidence of side effects.

These findings further support evidence of IL-15s ability as a cancer treatment. We are continuing vaccination studies in animal models with hopes of moving this research to a Phase I trial in humans to see if side effects are reduced, said John Morris, MD, co-author of this study and clinical co-leader of the Molecular Therapeutics and Diagnosis Program for the Cincinnati Cancer Consortium

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https://www.healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/28993/

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New cancer treatment targeting cancer stem cells shows positive result in animal studies - Bel Marra Health

This entry was posted on May 12, 2017 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Death by Stem Cells. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |