2008
Promising Cancer Treatment Ready for Human Trial
clinical trial will examine whether a new cancer treatment is as effective in humans as it’s proven to be in mice, say researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The treatment involves transfusing white blood cells called granulocytes from healthy young donors — whose immune systems produce cells with high levels of cancer-fighting activity — into patients with advanced cancer.
A similar treatment using white blood cells from cancer-resistant mice cured 100 percent of lab mice with advanced cancer.
“In mice, we’ve been able to eradicate even highly aggressive forms of malignancy with extremely large tumors. Hopefully, we will see the same results in humans. Our laboratory studies indicate that this cancer-fighting ability is even stronger in healthy humans,” lead researcher Zheng Cui, associate professor of pathology, said in a prepare statement.