A cure for cancer

[fyo]

It's one guy, one type of cancer, but quite interesting none-the-less:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14168-cancer-patient-cured-with-his-own-immune-system.html

a US team has developed a new way to turn a patient's T-cells against a deadly, metastasised skin cancer. A 55-year old man who received the immune boost lives tumour-free, more than two years after treatment.

...

In hopes of developing a simple regimen, Yee’s team focused on a special kind of T-cell, called helper CD4 cells.

...

After the cells had been multiplying in the lab for two months, Yee’s team injected about five billion of them into the patient in one dose.

The treatment annihilated the tumours within two months, and nearly two years later, there are no signs that the patient’s cancer has crept back, Yee says.

[simeon]

I hope a cure will be found, I have lost alot of family members to this terrible disease.

[StL FinFan]

Encouraging news, to be sure.

[Phishfan]

Cancer is a horrible disease and I admit that I am not a scientist, but isn't the term "cure for cancer" a bit too inclusive? Since there are different forms of cancer doesn't it make sesne that there is no one cure for cancer? Wouldn't you need multiple cures for various types and have to hope that maybe one cure would actually work on multiple types of cancer?

[fyo]

Cancer is a horrible disease and I admit that I am not a scientist, but isn't the term "cure for cancer" a bit too inclusive?

Sure, although it's (as always) more complicated than that. There are common traits in all (or at least close to all) forms of cancer, but if you consider the "cure" from the story above, what it does is basically make a part of your immune system go NUTSO that can recognize a particular protein that this particular cancer "expresses" (i.e. has). That was the theory, anyway, but it turned out that even cancer cells (in the same person) that didn't express the protein also got nuked.

The current theory on that appears to be that the massive injection of one type of immune system cells (CD4) also invigorates other parts of the immune system.

The article also mentions another team that's looking to do pretty much the exact same thing, but with a different T-cell.

It's not completely unrealistic that a combo-shot of these could effectively cure most forms of cancer. We're a long way off, yet, of course, but the understanding of cancer has come a long way and vaccines even exist that protect effectively against certain cancers, e.g. the most common form of cervical cancer. The vaccine in that case actually works indirectly by making the individual immune to (four types of) HPV (Human papillomavirus). These HPV variants are believed to be the cause of 70% of all cases of cervical cancer, so the protection is quite significant (but not complete).

[Sunstroke]

Sure do wish they'd hustle it up a little...there are a lot of people waiting.

[Buddhagirl]

I read about this yesterday, too. I would love to see a cure for cancer in my lifetime. (And AIDS.)