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Immune cell transplant hope for cancer patients
Immune cells taken from one person may prove an effective cancer treatment in another, say American researchers.
Scientists had already shown that humans have some ability to fight cancer through so-called natural killer (NK) cells. However, a team from North Carolina's Wake Forest University says that it has found cancer-fighting properties in a cell type present in much higher numbers.
Researcher Zheng Cui says that the cancer-fighting effectiveness of granulocytes varies between people.
New Scientist reports that the Wake Forest team took blood samples from more than 100 volunteers and mixed their granulocytes with cervical cancer cells. They found that granulocytes from one individual killed around 97% of cancer cells, while those from another killed only 2%.
John Gribben, a cancer immunologist at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, told the magazine: 'The concept of using immune cells from one person to fight cancer in another person is a very hot topic right now.'
The Wake Forest researchers hope to begin human trials in the US next summer.
Category: Healthcare
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