GM Blood Kills Human Cancer Cells

adri writes "New Scientist has an article which outlines an interesting method of combating cancer: genetically modifying T-cells in human blood to seek and destroy bowel cancer cells."

Comments

Re:The problem is...

[geekwench]

If I'm reading the article correctly, what the researchers are attempting to do is nothing more than step up the T-cells' normal function. They already go after disease pathogens, and there is a certain amount of evidence that they behave the same way towards cancerous cells in the same way that they do any other "foreign body." For reasons unknown, some rogue cells slip through the defenses and proliferate beyond the immune system's capabilities to fight the disease. Since the T-cells being use are being harvested from the patient, the risks of autoimmune responses being triggered should be minimized, since the "self/not self" coding is already in place. And, as Suidae said in the above post, T-cells have a limited lifespan, so the potential harm is minimized further.

I see a great deal of promise here. I don't know if you've ever been around someone recieving conventional cancer treatments, but I have. When I say that "the cure can be worse than the disease", that's not mere speculation; it's a direct quote from someone who - irony of ironies - didn't feel sick until her cancer was diagnosed and she started treatment. She felt just fine before the chemo and radiation. Three years later, she's cancer-free, but still having health problems caused by the lingering after-effects of the treatments. IMNSHO, anything that leads to a way of curing cancer without half-killing the patient is worth pursuing.