Defeating Cancer with One Injection

The new method is based on injecting substances into the tumour that stimulate the immune system.

In recent years, scientists searching for effective means to combat cancer have increasingly considered biological methods – those that help the body activate its natural defense mechanisms. For instance, the journal Science Translational Medicine published research data from American scientists at the University of California about a new, progressive way to destroy cancer tumours by injecting drugs that stimulate the immune system.

The essence of the method is that a drug composed of two substances is injected directly into the neoplasm. Both agents help immune system cells recognize cancer cells and activate the mechanism to fight them.

Unmasking the Camouflage

The body of even the healthiest person constantly produces cancer cells, but the immune system successfully suppresses their growth and spread. The disease arises when mutated cells begin to disguise themselves as healthy: T-lymphocytes stop reacting to them as pathogenic, allowing cancer cells to grow and divide uncontrollably, spreading throughout the body. Thus, the development of oncopathology occurs due to a failure in the immune system's functioning, when white blood cells lose the ability to recognize cancer cells.

Immunotherapy – a new, modern approach to treating oncopathologies – involves the use of techniques that help the immune system unmask the camouflage mechanism of cancer cells. Currently, several immunotherapy techniques have been developed to combat various types of cancer. The approach proposed by scientists from the University of California opens new possibilities for immunotherapy.

Currently in the Experimental Stage

At this time, the research has already passed the stage of experiments on mice, and its results have been deemed successful. Moreover, since one of the involved agents has already been approved for use in anti-cancer therapy, and the second is currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of lymphoma, trials of the injection drug may be scheduled soon.

Dr. Ronald Levy, who led the research, states that the two-component drug shows high results and contributes to the destruction of cancer cells throughout the body: “The advantage of our method is that it does not require identifying the specificity of each tumour; due to local use, there is no need to activate the immune system of the entire body.”

Advantages of the Method

Dr. Levy, who led the research, is an expert in the application of immunotherapy for treating oncopathologies. In particular, he deals with the problems of treating lymphoma and ways to stimulate the immune system. The practical experience of the doctor has led him to conclude that although immunotherapy shows high results in treating cancer, each type has a number of disadvantages.

For example, some methods require prolonged therapy, and sometimes the patient simply does not have time for long treatment. Others are fraught with the development of side effects, while others are too expensive and unaffordable for most patients. The approach proposed by Dr. Levy's team has advantages that other immunotherapy methods lack. Here’s how the researcher describes it: “We inject two substances at once, directly into the tumour. The drug stimulates immune cells located in the neoplasm to recognize cancer cells. Then these immune cells, migrating throughout the body, recognize pathogenic cells and fight metastases throughout the organism.”

Universality of the Method

One of the advantages of the method proposed by scientists is its universality. It can be applied to treat different types of cancer. According to Dr. Levy, the drug will “teach” T-lymphocytes in each individual case to fight a specific type of cancer cells.

The studies were conducted on mice. The rodents were given a microdose of the drug locally, at the site of the neoplasm. The drug contained the CpG oligonucleotide, which enhances the synthesis of a protein located on the surface of T-lymphocytes, and an antibody to the receptor of this protein, which activates immune cells. Activated T-lymphocytes penetrate other parts of the body and destroy cancer cells there.

As a result of the drug's application, 87 out of 90 mice infected with lymphoma were completely cured of cancer. In three remaining rodents, a relapse occurred, but another injection of the drug helped the body cope with the disease.

The effectiveness of the method has also been recorded in cases of other oncopathologies, particularly in colorectal cancer, skin cancer, and breast cancer. Moreover, mice genetically predisposed to develop breast cancer showed a positive effect from the treatment.

The Drug Acts Specifically

An interesting effect was obtained when two types of tumours – lymphoma and colon cancer – were transplanted into the same rodent. The experiment involved injecting the drug locally into the area of the lymphoma, and it turned out that the drug effectively dealt with the cancer cells in the lymph node but had no effect on the cancer in the colon. The scientists concluded that the drug “tunes” T-lymphocytes to fight the type of tumour into which the injection was made. “We concluded,” says researcher Dr. Levy, “that our approach has a very targeted action. The target of the damage is only the type of cancer cells that have the same protein as the cells treated with the drug.”

Clinical trials currently underway will provide a precise answer regarding the effectiveness of the new immunotherapy method. The drug is already being tested on patients diagnosed with poorly differentiated lymphomas. Researchers hope that their treatment will help people with various types of cancer.