If a group of Stanford researchers are right doctors may soon be able to treat a variety of cancers via personalized vaccines that bypass completely the need for traditional chemotherapy.
In a surprising twist of the test tube, the scientists also report the tobacco plant is at the heart of the new discovery.
Indeed, researchers claim the tobacco plant can be used to quickly, safely and inexpensively produce personalized antibodies developed from a patient’s own cancer cells. The antibodies are then be used to provide a personalized vaccine that destroys cancer cells without the need for traditional chemotherapy drugs.
"This would be a way to treat cancer without side effects," said Professor Ronald Levy, of Stanford University's the School of Medicine, and lead author of the report.
Indeed, researchers claim the tobacco plant can be used to quickly, safely and inexpensively produce personalized antibodies developed from a patient’s own cancer cells. The antibodies are then be used to provide a personalized vaccine that destroys cancer cells without the need for traditional chemotherapy drugs.
"This would be a way to treat cancer without side effects," said Professor Ronald Levy, of Stanford University's the School of Medicine, and lead author of the report.
"The idea is to marshal the body's own immune system to fight cancer, “ he says, indicating that a modified tobacco plant may be the quickest, most effective way to do that.
The new research, published in an advanced on-line issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), offers details on the first human safety trial of a tobacco-produced vaccine for a specific type of long-term chronic lymphoma.
The trial was small – involving only 16 patients – but results were promising enough to create a significant buzz throughout the scientific community. Indeed, the researchers report that the immune systems of more than 70 percent of the patients developed an immediate increased antibody response, while some 47 percent also showed specific immune responses to their cancer.
In general, vaccines work by helping the body to recognize specific types of “ foreign invaders” – including diseased tumor cells. Acting like a kind of biological sentry, the vaccines help send the body on a search and destroy mission that ultimately locates the diseased cells and destroys them before they multiply.
So how does tobacco fit into all of this?
The process occurs like this: First doctors isolate the antibody needed to destroy the cancer from the patients own cancer cells. A gene that helps code or develop that antibody is then inserted into a otherwise harmless virus known as TMV – short for tobacco mosaic virus.
Doctors then scratch the surface of a tobacco plant leaf and deposit TMV, which in turn infects the plant. The virus carries the gene into the plant’s cell, which then begin rapidly producing antibodies against it.
In just a few days the leaves can be harvested, the antibody extracted and purified, and injected into the patient's body - which then uses the antibodies like military reinforcements to hunt down and kill the cancer cells.
The new research, published in an advanced on-line issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), offers details on the first human safety trial of a tobacco-produced vaccine for a specific type of long-term chronic lymphoma.
The trial was small – involving only 16 patients – but results were promising enough to create a significant buzz throughout the scientific community. Indeed, the researchers report that the immune systems of more than 70 percent of the patients developed an immediate increased antibody response, while some 47 percent also showed specific immune responses to their cancer.
In general, vaccines work by helping the body to recognize specific types of “ foreign invaders” – including diseased tumor cells. Acting like a kind of biological sentry, the vaccines help send the body on a search and destroy mission that ultimately locates the diseased cells and destroys them before they multiply.
So how does tobacco fit into all of this?
The process occurs like this: First doctors isolate the antibody needed to destroy the cancer from the patients own cancer cells. A gene that helps code or develop that antibody is then inserted into a otherwise harmless virus known as TMV – short for tobacco mosaic virus.
Doctors then scratch the surface of a tobacco plant leaf and deposit TMV, which in turn infects the plant. The virus carries the gene into the plant’s cell, which then begin rapidly producing antibodies against it.
In just a few days the leaves can be harvested, the antibody extracted and purified, and injected into the patient's body - which then uses the antibodies like military reinforcements to hunt down and kill the cancer cells.
The results of the testing is so promising that Bayer pharmaceuticals has recently opened a small scale production facility in Germany that will use a similar tobacco-related technology to produce proteins that may help combat other diseases.
Important to note: Smoking or chewing tobacco leaves does not provide any therapeutic treatment, and will increase your risk of a variety of diseases, including cancer.
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