Cellular therapy is a type of immunotherapy that uses T cells, the foot soldiers of the immune system, that have been sensitized in the laboratory to kill breast cancer cells. These sensitized T cells are injected into the parts of the brain to which cancer has spread. The research shows that the T cells can move through tissue and recognize and directly kill the tumor cells. With the gene therapy, genetically modified cancer cells are killed by a drug called 5-flurocytosine (5-FC). To get the gene into the cancer cells, the researchers first insert it into a virus that can infect the tumor cells. After the virus has infected the cells, non-toxic 5-FC is given to the patient. Tumor cells infected by the virus convert the non-toxic drug to a toxic form that kills the cancer cells. While the two methods alone each show efficacy in mouse models, the greatest reduction in metastatic brain tumor size occurred when the cellular and gene therapies were combined
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:24:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015