London: Scientists have developed a new type of immunotherapy that can help treat bone cancer.
A treatment developed by researchers at University College London has shown positive results against a type of bone cancer called osteosarcoma.
Osteosarcoma is an extremely rare cancer but is the most common type of bone cancer in young people. Currently, more than one and a half million people in the world are suffering from this disease.
Research in mice has shown that a small subset of immune cells called gamma-delta cells may provide an effective and cost-effective cancer treatment.
These cells are a type of immune cell that can be made from healthy donor immune cells. These cells can be safely transferred from person to person without the risk of potentially fatal diseases.
To make these cells, blood is taken from a healthy person and the cells are engineered to release tumor-targeting antibodies and immune chemicals before being sent into a cancer patient.
This new treatment delivery platform is called OPS-Gamma-Delta T.
Current immunotherapies such as CAR-T cells use the patient’s own immune cells and improve their cancer-fighting properties, said lead author of the study, Dr Jonathan Fisher, from University College London.
