Scientists at Cancer Research UK and the University College London
claim to have found the Achilles’ heel of cancer, which could lead to
more efficient treatments even for hopeless, terminal cases.
UCL researchers discovered that our immune system could trace all
cancer cells spreading throughout the body because they carry a ‘flag.’
No matter how much these cancerous cells mutate, the organism can
recognize them.
Current treatments often fail to completely destroy the cancer cells
because they evolve quickly, cunningly altering their makeup to evade
drugs. According to the new research, even when they mutate, cancer
cells still carry signature molecules called antigens.
Antigens are toxins which the immune system can spot, but the immune
cells that have the power to battle those antigens are in too small
numbers in the body to be effective.
Scientists believe they can harvest these specialized immune cells,
multiply them artificially, and send them back in to wipe out the
cancerous cells, even when they have spread to multiple organs in the
body.
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