An experimental program at Duke University is using a surprising new
weapon in the war on cancer, infusions of the polio virus that have
successfully been used to treat patients with inoperable brain tumors. While the doctors and researchers spearheading the effort are reluctant
to use the words “cancer cure” to describe the work, the early success
of the innovative effort is at least the next best thing. If ongoing
clinical trials of the technique continue to prove promising, it could
add a new way to treat cancer, alongside surgery, radiation, and
chemotherapy. “The idea of targeting cancer with viruses has been around for at least
100 years,” notes Matthias Gromeier, M.D., one of the lead investigators
heading up the new anti-cancer research at the Preston Robert Tisch
Brain Tumor Center at Duke.
“However, valid strategies of using ‘oncolytic’ (cancer-fighting)
viruses emerged only recently. This is mostly due to technological
advances in genetic engineering of viruses.”
The Duke project involves injecting a genetically engineered polio-virus,
known as PVS-RIPO into deadly brain tumors. Early testing involving
primates and human patients has found PVS-RIPO homes in on cancer cells
and destroys them, without harming healthy tissues.
Dr. Gromeier explains that the Duke team essentially disarmed the virus
through genetic manipulation, so it cannot cause polio, while
maintaining its ability to infect, target, and kill certain cells,
specifically brain tumor cells.
No comments:
Post a Comment