A single dose of treatment might potentially eradicate cancer cells.
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a targeted cancer treatment that uses a dual-agent injection to stimulate the immune system, successfully eliminating tumors in mice. The treatment, which bypasses the need for cancer-specific immune targets, could potentially be effective against various types of cancer.
Advancements in cancer treatment are focusing on dual-agent therapies that enhance the immune system's response against the disease. Recent experiments include the use of nanotechnology to hunt down microtumors, engineering microbes to thwart cancer cells, and starving malignant tumors. The latest study, from Stanford University School of Medicine, has investigated the potential of a new approach: a one-time application of very small amounts of two agents directly into a malignant solid tumor.
Dr. Ronald Levy, the senior study author, explains that when these two agents are used together, they stimulate the body's immune response, resulting in the elimination of tumors across the body. The treatment doesn't require wholesale activation of the immune system or customization of a patient's immune cells.
One of the agents involved in the new treatment has already been approved for use in human therapy, while the other is under clinical trial for lymphoma treatment. The researchers believe a speedier trajectory towards clinical trials for this method is possible due to the approval of one of the agents.
In laboratories, the scientists first applied this method to the mouse model of lymphoma, with 87 out of 90 mice becoming cancer-free. Similarly successful results were observed in the mouse models of breast, colon, and skin cancer. Even mice genetically engineered to develop breast cancer spontaneously responded well to this treatment.
However, when scientists transplanted two different types of cancer tumors in the same animal but only injected the experimental formula into a lymphoma site, the results were mixed. All the lymphoma tumors receded, but the same did not hold true for the colon cancer tumor, confirming that the T cells only learn to deal with the cancer cells in their immediate vicinity before the injection.
Dr. Levy suggests that this is a very targeted approach, only affecting tumors that share the protein targets displayed by the treated site. The team is preparing a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of this treatment in people with low-grade lymphoma, hoping for extension to various types of cancer tumors in humans.
In terms of relevant clinical trials, the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab has been approved for use in the UK for the first-line treatment of mismatch repair deficient or microsatellite instability-high unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer. This combination offers significant advancements over traditional chemotherapy by providing longer disease-free survival and improved quality of life for patients. Meanwhile, a phase I/II trial is underway for invikafusp alfa, a bispecific antibody showing promise in treating antigen-rich solid tumors resistant to PD-L1 immunotherapy.
These advancements highlight the growing interest in using dual-agent therapies to stimulate the immune response against cancer, offering new hope for patients with significant unmet medical needs.
- The new treatment developed at Stanford University, which utilizes a dual-agent injection to stimulate the immune system, might be effective against other lymphomas, as well as various types of cancer, such as breast, colon, and skin cancer.
- Recent medical-conditions, like the use of nanotechnology for microtumor hunting or engineering microbes to thwart cancer cells, could potentially be supplemented by this innovative one-time application of dual agents to stimulate the immune system in dealing with the disease.
- As one of the agents involved in the new treatment has already been approved for human therapy, and the other is under clinical trial for lymphoma treatment, the possibility of a speedier trajectory towards clinical trials for thismethod is optimistic.
- Advancements in health-and-wellness, particularly dual-agent therapies, show increasing interest in stimulating the immune response against cancer, bringing new hope for patients suffering from significant unmet medical needs, such as those with low-grade lymphoma.
