Kiwi connection for cancer vaccine trial
11 Sep, 2005
Source: Sunday Star-Times
A skin cancer vaccine that teaches the immune system to recognise and kill cancer cells is being developed in a collaboration that involves New Zealand researchers.
The vaccine works by preparing the immune system to fight the cancer before it gets too widespread, Associate Professor Rod Dunbar of Auckland University says.
“It’s like taking the one in a million soldier able to recognise the enemy and cloning him or her so there are thousands,” he says.
Using time lapse photography and a microscope, researchers have been able to record the immune system cells, called T-cells, attacking cancer cells. Large numbers of the T-cells were seen to surround the bigger cancer cell and inject it with toxins which cause cell death, destroying the cancer.
Only two out of 19 people who had the vaccine relapsed in phase one research, compared to five out of seven participants who were given a placebo.
If successful, scientists think the vaccine could potentially be used against other types of cancer.
New Zealand has the world’s highest rate of skin cancer, with around 50,000 new cases diagnosed every year.
