A new stem cell treatment could change the way doctors cure cancer.
Scientists have potentially developed a groundbreaking new way to treat certain kinds of cancer. They have found a way to modify cells that already exist in the body and ‘train’ them to go after cancer cells.
Videos by PopCulture.com
In this new type of immunotherapy, scientists take a type of immune cell called T cells, which normally hunt down and dispose of bacteria, viruses and parasites, and engineer them to track down cancer cells instead. According to Science News, researchers have been able to make a type of T cell that tracks down any cell which resembles cancer. Called CAR-T cells, or “chimeric antigen receptor” T cells, these cancer-fighting super cells, have shown great promise in curing even advanced cancers.
In one preliminary clinical trial, the new treatment cured 27 of 29 patients suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL.
If this treatment’s success rate continues to progress it could mean big changes in the way scientists treat and even cure cancers, which is great news for everyone alive today.
