An innovative approach to personalized cancer treatment
An approach developed by the company Pact Pharma and authenticated by the researchers of the University of California, Los Angeles called the ‘leap forward’ has discovered a new technique that provides personalized treatment of cancer.
The study involved patients suffering from different types of cancer like Breast, colon, and lung cancer some specific weak spots in their tumors were targeted for the study. It focused on the specific T-cells of the body which patrol the body to identify foreign particles and microbes.
These cells use proteins called receptors to effectively sniff and recognize cells that have pathogens or are becoming cancerous. Although cancers can be tricky for the T- cells to spot because the virus is significantly different from the human body cells but the cancerous cells are fundamentally the corrupted version of the body’s own cells.
The vital idea of the therapy is to boost levels of these cancer-spotting T-cells but it has to be tailored to each patient as each tumor is unique. The researchers found the blood of the patient to identify the T-cells which already have the ability to sniff these cells, they then harvest the cells which can redesign those T-cells. Their original receptors are then modified to those cells which have receptors that can find out and treat the dead-searching cells. These modified T-cells are then put back into the patient to identify and treat the tumor.
Read More: Yoga: A miraculous way of life
The T-cells are modified into transformants that can hunt tumor, this process requires genetic manipulation to both remove the genetic instructions to remove their old receptors and even give them instructions to create the tailored ones.
This could be made possible by the tremendous advancements in gene editing technology CRISPR – which works like a kind of molecular scissors that enables scientists to manipulate the DNA easily. The researchers who developed this novel technology received the noble prize for Chemistry in 2020 for this feat.
This study found the safety and feasibility of the technology and showed that the modified cells also easily found their way to the dead cells. However, the disease improved in some patients and worsened in others. Hence, the correct dose and efficacy of this technique must be monitored for final trials.
The results have been published in the Journal Nature and the Journal of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. This involved a lot of labor, time, and expense but is a wonderful study that has brought in new breakthrough innovations in the field of the study of cancer and the development of new techniques for diagnosis and treatment of the disease which was once thought to be untreatable but now has numerous methods of treatment.
Read More: A Guide to Cervical Cancer and its Diagnosis
