In some cases, it is now possible to genetically engineer the immune system to banish cancers like T-cell leukaemia that were previously unresponsive to treatments
By Michael Le Page – New Scientist
ONE of the most amazing things about the immune system is how hard it works without you even being aware. It not only fights off bacteria and viruses every day, it also kills off most cancers long before they become a threat. But sometimes cancers manage to dodge the immune system – and a number of cancer therapies rely on restoring its effectiveness. An emerging star is CAR T-cell therapy, which has produced dramatic results for some cancers when all the usual treatments have failed.
This incredible technology relies on T-cells, immune cells that patrol our body, killing infected or cancerous cells. T-cells detect their targets with a receptor that protrudes from their surface and binds to a target protein, or a displayed fragment of a protein, on the outside of other cells. What this means is that if you add the right receptor to T-cells, you can make them target anything you want, including a cancer.
