Breakthrough discovery in research on treating metastatic cancer.

British scientists have just announced that they have found the "Achilles' heel" of cancer, opening up treatment opportunities for seemingly incurable cases where cancer cells have spread throughout the body.

Cancer treatment. (Source: cancer.gov)

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers found that every cancer cell carries a "flag" that the immune system can recognize regardless of how it changes. Until now, cancer treatments have often failed because cancer progresses so rapidly and constantly changes its structure, rendering medications ineffective.

However, scientists from University College London (UCL) and Cancer Research UK have discovered that even with rapid mutation, cancer still carries characteristic molecules that never change. These molecules are antibodies—toxins that the immune system can recognize. Immune cells that fight these antibodies already exist in the body, but in too small numbers to be effective.

Based on this discovery, scientists believe that a new approach to cancer treatment could be developed by collecting all immune cells, "cloning" them in the laboratory in large quantities, and then reintroducing them into the patient's body.

These immune cells, with their ability to locate "flagship" cells—that is, their ability to recognize cancer cells regardless of how they change—will attack and destroy these diseased cells even when they have spread throughout the body.

Professor Peter Johnson of Cancer Research UK said the study "filled in the gaps" regarding why some previous cancer treatments were ineffective. He also stated that the research provided crucial grounds for developing new cancer treatments that utilize the patient's own immune system.

Meanwhile, Professor Charles Swanton, co-author of the study at the UCL Cancer Institute, said that the new approach to cancer treatment could significantly improve survival rates for cancer patients.

According to Vietnam+