March 27, 2012

Antibody shrinks tumor

Researchers implanted human tumors into lab mice and studied the effects of this new antibiotic on the tumor.  This antibody masked a protein flag on cancer cells that protect them from the immune system cells.  This now allows the immune system cells to attack the tumor and break it down so it is not harmful anymore. So far they have tested ovarian, colon, bladder, brain, liver and prostate cancer samples with successful outcomes.  As researchers began to test different animals not all cases were successful.  The antibody did not harm the animal, but it did not reduce the tumor.  On the other side, in the successful cases, after the tumor disappeared, the mice showed no negative side affects and the tumor did not return.

I found this very interesting because any advancement in cancer studies is one step closer to finding a cure for all cancers.  This can be extremely useful for all types of cancer.  The only concerning factor is, would the immune system being to attack cells that are suppose to be there? Is the immune system going to weaken as a side effect of the antibody? These questions will hopefully be answered after the human clinical trials begin.


4 comments:

chellemohasin said...

poor mice, always the test animal. but this was a success! maybe the cure to cancer is only a few lab mice experiments away

Shan said...

This experiment turned out well, hopefully it works for humans so we can finally find a cure for cancer.

Shan said...

This experiment turned out well, hopefully it works for humans so we can finally find a cure for cancer.

Fariha said...

What a break through! Hopefully they'll be able to find a way to get positive results for humans through this. The worst part about cancer treatments these days are the side effects. It's like the better of two evils. But through this, those side effects could potentially disappear.