Marc Bissonnette wrote:
> "All the mice we treated were 100 per cent cured," lead researcher Dr.
> Zheng Cui told CTV News. "So that was very surprising for us."
>
> Cui, an associate professor of pathology at Wake Forest University Baptist
> Medical Center in North Carolina, will announce the study Saturday at the
> Understanding Aging conference in Los Angeles.
>
> Granulocytes account for about 60 per cent of all white blood cells in the
> human body. The scientists already know, via a small study of human
> volunteers, that granulocytes from people under the age of 50 are most
> effective at killing cancer cells.
>
> The study will begin with 22 cancer patients for whom conventional
> treatment has been unsuccessful. The researchers say that they will know
> within three months if the treatment will work in humans.
>
> Cancer researchers worldwide will be watching the tests closely.
>
> "Certainly in the mouse, being able to do these things is quite remarkable
> and very exciting," said Dr. Ronan Foley of the Juravinski Cancer Centre in
> Hamilton, Ont. "Oftentimes when it is translated into the human situation
> it doesn't work as well. But that doesn't mean it isn't going to work." http://acor.org/news/whatsnew.html?item_id=6967
Cancer 'cure' in mice to be tested in humans
Published: Jun 28, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ? Scientists at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical
Center are about to embark on a human trial to test whether a new cancer
treatment will be as effective at eradicating cancer in humans as it has proven
to be in mice.
The treatment will involve transfusing specific white blood cells, called
granulocytes, from select donors, into patients with advanced forms of cancer.
A similar treatment using white blood cells from cancer-resistant mice has
previously been highly successful, curing 100 percent of lab mice afflicted
with advanced malignancies.
Zheng Cui, Ph.D., lead researcher and associate professor of pathology, will be
announcing the study June 28 at the Understanding Aging conference in Los
Angeles.
The study, given the go-ahead by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will
involve treating human cancer patients with white blood cells from healthy
young people whose immune systems produce cells with high levels of
cancer-fighting activity.
The basis of the study is the scientists' discovery, published five years ago,
of a cancer-resistant mouse and their subsequent finding that white blood cells
from that mouse and its offspring cured advanced cancers in ordinary laboratory
mice. They have since identified similar cancer-killing activity in the white
blood cells of some healthy humans.
"In mice, we've been able to eradicate even highly aggressive forms of
malignancy with extremely large tumors," Cui said. "Hopefully, we will see the
same results in humans. Our laboratory studies indicate that this
cancer-fighting ability is even stronger in healthy humans."
The team has tested human cancer-fighting cells from healthy donors against
human cervical, prostate and breast cancer cells in the laboratory ? with
surprisingly good results. The scientists say the anti-tumor response primarily
involves granulocytes of the innate immune system, a system known for fighting
off infections.
Granulocytes are the most abundant type of white blood cells and can account
for as much as 60 percent of total circulating white blood cells in healthy
humans. Donors can give granulocytes specifically without losing other
components of blood through a process called apheresis that separates
granulocytes and returns other blood components back to donors.
In a small study of human volunteers, the scientists found that cancer-killing
activity in the granulocytes was highest in people under age 50. They also
found that this activity can be lowered by factors such as winter or emotional
stress. They said the key to the success for the new therapy is to transfuse
sufficient granulocytes from healthy donors while their cancer-killing
activities are at their peak level.
For the upcoming study, the researchers are currently recruiting 500 local
potential donors who are 50 years old or younger and in good health to have
their blood tested. Of those, 100 volunteers with high cancer-killing activity
will be asked to donate white blood cells for the study. Cell recipients will
include 22 cancer patients who have solid tumors that either didn't respond
originally, or no longer respond, to conventional therapies. The study will
cost $100,000 per patient receiving therapy, and for many patients (those
living in 22 states, including North Carolina) the costs may be covered by
their insurance company. There is no cost to donate blood. For general
information about insurance coverage of clinical trials, go to the American
Cancer Society's web site at
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/co...cal_Trials.asp.)
For more information about qualifications for donors and participants, go to
www.wfubmc.edu/LIFT (Web site will be available the evening of 6/27.)
Cancer-killing ability in these cells is highest during the summer, so
researchers are hoping to find volunteers who can afford the therapy quickly.
"If the study is effective, it would be another arrow in the quiver of
treatments aimed at cancer," said Mark Willingham, M.D., a co-researcher and
professor of pathology. "It is based on 10 years of work since the
cancer-resistant mouse was first discovered."
Volunteers who are selected as donors ? based on the observed potential
cancer-fighting activity of their white cells ? will complete the apheresis, a
two- to three-hour process similar to platelet donation, to collect their
granulocytes. The cancer patients will then receive the granulocytes through a
transfusion ? a safe process that has been used for more than 30 years.
Normally, the treatment is used for patients who have antibiotic-resistant
infectious diseases. The treatment will be given for three to four consecutive
days on an outpatient basis. Up to three donors may be necessary to collect
enough blood product for one study participant.
"The difference between our study and the traditional white cell therapy is
that we're selecting the healthy donors based on the cancer-killing ability of
their white blood cells," said Cui. The scientists are calling the therapy
Leukocyte InFusion Therapy (LIFT).
The goal of the phase II study is to determine whether patients can tolerate a
sufficient amount of transfused granulocytes for the treatment. Participants
will be monitored on a regular basis, and after three months scientists will
evaluate whether the treatment results in clear clinical benefits for the
patients. If this phase of the study is successful, scientists will expand the
study to determine if the treatment is best suited to certain types of cancer.
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