14 DAY TRIAL // Writing in the journal OncoImmunology, researchers detail how, with the help of a bacteria strain, they managed to coax cancer cells into turning against their parent tumor.
The scientists behind this investigation say that, as shown by previous studies, tumors survive in the human body by creating a special environment around them.
This special environment toys with the immune system in that it keeps it from recognizing these abnormal tissue growths as threats. Consequently, the body does not attack them.
When introduced into the environment created by aggressive ovarian cancer tumors, a specific strain of the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria ended up leaving the tumors defenseless.
Specifically, it is understood that the bacteria strain the researchers experimented with forced the cells that otherwise protect tumors to turn against the cancerous formations.
“The attenuated bacteria is taken up by the immunosuppressive cells and transforms them from cells that protect the tumor into cells that attack the tumor,” says study leader Steve Fiering.
Interestingly enough, the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria strain used in these experiments is already being used to treat pancreatic cancer in a series of clinical trials.
Given the outcome of their experiments, Steve Fiering and fellow researchers argue that the same strain has the potential to treat ovarian cancer, maybe even other types of tumors.