Injected Cells Cure Tumors in Mice (new future cancer treatment in humans?

[papau]

"People have been killing tumors in mice for 30 years, and only some of those techniques have led to human therapy…. Because they don't know anything about the gene yet, the application to human therapy remains a big question mark."

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-cancer9may09,0,4476073.story?track=tottext


Injected Cells Cure Tumors in Mice

Researchers hope the phenomenon can lead to a new path in treating cancer in humans.
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Times Staff Writer

May 9, 2006

White blood cells from mice that are naturally immune to cancer cured tumors in other mice and provided them with lifelong immunity to the disease, researchers reported Monday.

The finding indicates the existence of a biological pathway previously unsuspected in any species. A small team of researchers is working to understand the genetic and immunological basis of the surprising phenomenon.

Preliminary studies hint at the existence of a similar resistance in humans. Researchers hope that harnessing the biological process could lead to a new approach to treating cancer.

"The idea of cells being able to kill tumor cells … is very exciting," said biologist Howard Young of the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research in Frederick, Md. "But this is a mouse, and there is no guarantee that the same gene will exist in people." <snip>