Posted on 09/05/2017 10:24:58 AM PDT by BenLurkin
"We take a virus, learn how it works and then we leverage it," said Dr. Michael Diamond, a professor of molecular microbiology, pathology and immunology. "Let's take advantage of what it's good at, use it to eradicate cells we don't want. Take viruses that would normally do some damage and make them do some good."
Researcher Zhe Zhu thought that glioblastoma stem cells, which stubbornly resist chemotherapy and radiation to regrow in most patients, looked a lot like the stem cells in a fast growing fetal brain. Since the Zika virus kills those fetal cells, maybe it would do the same to the tumor cells.
Instead of injecting Zika virus into the brain, the scientists engineered a designer version of the virus that would be better controlled by the immune system if it invaded healthy cells.
They tested the Zika virus on glioblastoma stem cells that had been surgically removed from patients. The virus killed the cancer stem cells, which are most resistant to standard therapies. The experiment also worked in mice with brain tumors. The tumors shrunk and the mice lived longer than those treated with a placebo.
The next step is to see if the virus could kill human tumor stem cells in mice. If successful, then a clinical trial for humans could be designed.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Duplicate post
sign up mc lame for clinical trials
What could go wrong here?
Uh, I’ll pass.
Thousands of chemicals will kill cancer cells in a test tube. It’s meaningless news until it works in a live animal or person.
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