Gene Therapy Cures Malignant Melanoma in Mice

A new method of cancer treatment has been tested in mice that uses gene therapy to trick the body's immune system into destroying the tumor (and any cells that have metasasized). The trick was in identifying a specific protein receptor only present in melanoma cells. A gene coding for a complimentary protein (a protein that binds to the melanoma protein) was introduced into hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow of the mice. These cells differentiate into T cells which contain the anti-melanoma gene and will destroy any melanoma cells that they come into contact with. One of the interesting features of this type of treatment is that these stem cells will continue to produce T cells with these receptors for the lifetime of the patient, eliminating the potential of future tumors. Also, this treatment could be used to preempt cancer, like a vaccine, by introducing the gene before any tumors develop, preventing them.

This potential treatment is very exciting. If treatments like this could be designed for other types of cancer, cancer could be effectively cured, even in the most severe cases where the cells have traveled around the body. The body's immune system in far more precise than any surgeons blade.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101118124206.htm