A New Immunotherapy Breakthrough Holds Promise for Bone Cancer Patients
Scientists have developed a new form of immunotherapy that could prove to help treat bone cancer.
Researchers at University College London have developed a treatment that shows positive results against osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
Osteosarcoma is an extremely rare cancer, but it is the most common type of bone cancer in young people. Currently, over one and a half million individuals worldwide are affected by this disease.
Research conducted on mice has revealed that a subset of defense cells called gamma-delta T cells can provide an effective and cost-efficient treatment against certain types of bone cancer.
These cells are a type of defense cell that can be created from healthy donor immune cells. They can be transferred from one individual to another without the risk of potentially life-threatening diseases.
To create these cells, blood is taken from a healthy individual, and the cells are engineered in such a way that they start targeting antibodies and defense chemicals before being sent to cancer patients.
This new delivery platform is called the Plate for OPST-Gamma-Delta T Cell.
Dr. Jonathan Fisher, the lead author of the research affiliated with University College London, stated that in current immunotherapies such as CAR-T cells, the patient's own defense cells are used, and their cancer-killing properties are enhanced.