London: Scientists have developed an
implant that inserts a cancer vaccine into the skin to destroy
tumours without causing damage to any other part of the body.
Researchers from Harvard University said, it is the
first "cancer vaccine" delivered in the form of a plastic
implant that can attack and destroy tumours.
According to the study published in the journal Science
Translational Medicine, the implant, a tiny disk, works by
releasing chemicals that attract a specific type of immune
cells called dendritic cells which are encouraged to fight
and kill cancer cells.
Cancer cells are good at evading the immune system
because the body does not recognise them as "foreign".
This study provides some useful insights into how we can
effectively train the immune system to recognise and destroy
cancer cells but most other studies have looked at removing
immune cells from the body, reprogramming them to recognise
the individual`s cancer and then returning them.
Once inside, the immune cells are exposed to proteins
found on the surface of the cancer cells to be targeted.
With this information, the dendritic cells move on to
the lymph nodes where they tell another type of immune cell,
known as T cells, to hunt down and kill the cancer cells.
In mice with skin cancer, the implant was shown to
successfully eliminate the tumours, BBC reported.
The researchers believe such implants could one day be
used alongside chemotherapy and surgery to eliminate melanoma
tumours, the most serious form of skin cancer.
PTI
