Lung cancer treatment trial using stem cells

British scientists are pioneering trials of a stem cell treatment for lung cancer.

British scientists are pioneering trials of a stem cell treatment for lung cancer, offering new hope to patients suffering from one of the most dangerous forms of the disease.

In the new treatment, researchers use genetically modified stem cells from bone marrow to find and kill cancer cells.

The advantage of this method is that the cells do not need to be closely matched to the patient's cell type and genetic profile. Scientists can simply take them from a readily available source of donated bone marrow.

The stem cells are then modified to activate an anti-cancer gene called “Trail” that is normally active in immune cells. These modified cells are highly attracted to cancerous tumors and, when they “find” a tumor, create a “suicide trail” in the cancer cells.

Experiments on mice showed that this treatment completely eliminated or significantly reduced the mice's tumors.

The new stem cell trial will begin with 56 patients early next year. All will have been diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer and conventional treatments are expected to extend their lives by only a few months.

The Medical Research Council-funded trial comes as a growing number of cell-based treatments are being studied to improve the chances of beating the disease and prolonging life for patients.

In the US and UK, trials of treating leukemia with genetically modified immune cells have also shown positive results.

Professor Sam Janes, who led the research at University College London (UCL) Hospitals, said cancer treatment needed new approaches beyond chemotherapy, which is ineffective and short-lived. This will be the first trial in the world using stem cells to treat lung cancer.

Every year in the UK, more than 40,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer and only 5% of these have a chance of living another 10 years from the time of diagnosis./.

According to Vietnam+