In a new study from Northwestern University, researchers have developed a new tool to harness immune cells from tumors to fight cancer rapidly and effectively.
They showed a dramatic shrinkage in tumors in mice compared to traditional cell therapy methods.
With a novel microfluidic device that could be 3D printed, the team multiplied sorted through and harvested hundreds of millions of cells, recovering 400% more of the tumor-eating cells than current approaches.
Most treatments for cancer involve toxic chemicals and foreign substances, which cause harmful side effects and weaken the body’s immune response.
Using tissue from one’s own body can eliminate side effects and risk of rejection, and many disease therapies in regenerative medicine and cancer treatment have gained traction in the clinic. But sometimes the wheels skid.
The cells of interest, called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), are natural immune cells that invade tumor tissue by engaging cells in a form of hand-to-hand combat that looks like someone using insecticide on a weed.
But, in this scenario, previous researchers have been attacking the weeds with a half-expired cannister of chemicals.
This is the case in cell therapies used in clinics today, where a mixture of “exhausted” and “naïve” cells is used to treat tumors.
After they are extracted from tissue, cells are grown in labs far away from the patients they were harvested from.
By the time they’ve multiplied and are ready to be placed back in the body, many of the cells are exhausted and unable to fight, having been in the tumor for too long.
If you care about immune health, please read studies that new cancer treatment may reawaken the immune system, and many Americans take immune-weakening drugs that may reduce COVID vaccine effects.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that intense meditation strongly boosts immune system, and results showing this drug can give your immune system a double boost against cancer.
The study is published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, and was conducted by Shana O. Kelley et al.
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