It could be a breakthrough. A crazily simple idea has worked and suddenly we may have a weapon that could help us beat tumors. Stanford scientists have amazed the whole world with their new study. Of course, we should be cautious and the treatment won’t be available right now but if the treatment is proven to work in humans we could get something truly amazing.
Overview of iPS cells - Source: Humanips (Own work) CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
A team from the Stanford University has discovered that when they inject induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) into mice it creates a strong immune response against many types of cancer. iPSCs are cells that originate from common tissue like from skin or blood. Then they are transformed into stem cells through a sophisticated genetic process. The researchers Nigel Kooreman and his coworkers first noticed that iPSCs and the cells of tumors are very similar. Then they decided to use this to their advantage.
And it wasn’t that much of a surprise that it actually worked. It’s been a century when scientists found out that if they inject an animal with embryonic material it helps to prevent the problem with transplanted organs. Later vaccines against tumors made from embryonic stem cells appeared. But the usage of embryonic stem cells does bring a few problems. First of all, many people have ethical problems with their usage. But they also aren’t genetically compatible with the vaccinated person which increases the risks and lowers the effectiveness. But iPSC is made from the same genetic code as the vaccinated person so they nicely get around this problem.
Joseph WU: "Stem Cells and Genomics for Precision Medicine” - Source: Fondazione Internazionale Menarini
So the scientists started an experiment in which they first created iPSC for lab mice. Then they vaccinated the mice and after four weeks injected them with breast cancer. They then did the same for skin cancer and lung cancer. And the results were astounding. 70 % of the mice had a substantial tumor size reduction and in some, the tumors completely disappeared. Mr. Kooreman says this procedure is extremely effective as it can be used to train the immune system to many kinds of cancer at the same time. The largest concern was whether this procedure would cause autoimmunity problems. But that didn’t happen.
The obvious question now is whether this vaccine will work on humans as well. That’s why Kooreman with his coworkers are gonna start a round of experiments on laboratory cultures of human cells and then clinical tests on human patients. And while lots of works remain this could be a very elegantly simple way to treat cancer.
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