50-yr-old bacteria may help
your body’s own immune system to kill cancer
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally.
Unfortunately, currently, there’s no true cure for it. Cancer is
a group of large number of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth of
abnormal cells. Scientists have been trying to use our body’s own immune system
to kill cancer cells. Also Read - Mediterranean diet
reduces the risk of prostate cancer progression: Study
Normally, our body’s immune system identifies and
destroys foreign entities in the body. But cancer cells have the ability to
evade detection and form tumours. The good news is – a University of Missouri
researcher has found a new way to help the body’s immune system get past that
deception and destroy cancer. Also Read - Less sex, poor sleep and
other factors that can suppress your immune system
“Normal cells put up a ‘don’t-eat-me’ molecular flag
that is recognized by immune cells, thereby preventing the destruction of
normal tissues. But some cancers have also developed the ability to mimic
normal cells and produce this ‘don’t eat me’ signal. As a consequence, the immune
system fails to recognise cancer as a defective tissue and leaves it alone,”
explained Yves Chabu, assistant professor in the Division of Biological
Sciences, University of Missouri, as reported by ANI. Also Read - Cellular 'death by iron'
could be a new promising avenue of cancer treatment
Immunotherapy drugs essentially block the
“don’t-eat-me” signal and allow the immune-system to kill cancer cells.
Using Old Bacteria Strain To Fight Prostate Cancer
Immunotherapies may not, however, work on some forms
of cancer, like prostate cancer which
are highly immunosuppressive, meaning that they can overpower the body’s immune
system.
Chabu have apparently unlocked a solution to this
problem with the help of a more than 50-year-old strain of bacteria.
According to Chabu, the bacteria is genetically
pliable, and can be genetically modified to overcome patient-specific
therapeutic limits.
“One can envision genetically modifying the bacteria
such that it can unload therapeutics that specifically exploit that cancer’s
unique vulnerabilities and kill it,” the researcher was quoted as saying.
In fact, scientists at the Cancer Research Centre and
the University of Missouri had already developed a genetically distinct and
non-toxic strain of salmonella, called CRC2631, to select and kill cancer
cells. It was derived from a strain of salmonella that had been stored at room
temperature for over half a century.
Now, Chabu and other scientists are demonstrating the
potential use of CRC2631 to unleash the body’s immune system against prostate
cancer.
As CRC2631 preferentially colonises tumour cells, the
effect is mainly localized to the tumour, Chabu said while suggesting that it
can be used to design and deliver patient-tailored therapeutics.
Source: https://www.thehealthsite.com/
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