A Cure for Cancer Using the Body's Own Defense System

According to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that 7.6 million people died from cancer in 2005 and 86 million will die over the next ten years. In the United States, there were over 1.3 million new cancer cases and over half a million deaths due to cancer in 2005. In the midst of this darkness, a very promising study conducted by Dr. Rosenberg, involving a method of immunotherapy is showing great progress in the fight against this devastating disease.

Dr. Rosenberg and his team of scientists, at the National Institute of Health have been researching to find a cure for cancer. A patient of his, thirty years ago, suggested an idea, which has led Dr. Rosenberg to discover a method of immunotherapy, called adoptive cell transfer, in which the body's own defense system is used to fight cancerous tumors.

Adoptive cell transfer is a process in which the tumor-infiltrating T-lymphocytes, TILs, are extracted from a patient's cancerous tumor. The TILs are then enhanced with cancer- fighting properties and grown in the laboratory. These cancer-fighting cells are then put back into the patient. These cells rapidly multiply in the body, targeting a specific antigen on the tumor's cells called MART-1. These cancer-fighting cells cause the tumor to regress.

Unfortunately, in most patients, TILs, can not be harvested. Instead, T-lymphocytes are genetically engineered by injecting the lymphocyte with a virus. This virus carries genes which cause the T-lymphocyte to express the receptor protein which binds with MART-1. These cancer-fighting T-lymphocytes are then grown and infused into the patient.

Two years ago fifteen patients with metastatic melanoma underwent adoptive cell transfer. Of the fifteen patients, two have been disease free for nearly one and a half years. The study is still in the very early stages and has only been conducted with patients who have metastatic melanoma, but Dr. Rosenberg plans to begin studies on other types of cancers, including breast and colon, within the next few months at the clinic of the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. These studies will involve only a few cancer patients.

Even though the number of patients showing tumor regression was very low, according to CNN anchor John King, Dr. Rosenberg is "very optimistic"1 and stresses the need for continued research in molecular biology, specifically gene therapy.

Cancer patients interested in participating in the study should visit the National Cancer Institute website at www.cancer.gov for eligibility requirements and information.

1. "Cancer researcher: 'This is just a start'." CNN.com. 3 October 2006. 31 August 2006