HERPES VIRUS USED FOR CANCER TREATMENT

                HERPES VIRUS USED FOR CANCER TREATMENT.

Scientists from the British Institute of Cancer Research recently took a big step in the search for a cure for the disease, a therapy that involves the use of genetically modified herpes virus was successful in treating patients with head and neck cancer.

According to the report of the experiment published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, Medical Royal Marsden Hospital injected genetically modified in 17 patients with lymphatic cancer virus. At the same time, these patients also received conventional treatments of radiation and chemotherapy. The result showed that after surgically removing the tumor in 93% of cases there were traces of another tumor. Two years later, 82% of patients had no cancer recurrence. Of the 13 patients who were treated with genetically modified virus in only two of them reappeared cancer. Currently the focus of the experiments is to determine the recommended this treatment, while they are concerned about local control and prevent the spread of cancer dose.

This new treatment has also been experienced in patients with skin cancer. Scientists genetically engineered virus that is often used to make the vaccine against chickenpox, so it spreads in cancer cells that are multiplying and does not penetrate healthy cells. This transgenic virus may have a triple effect: first is used to destroy cancer cells. Second, this genetic alteration causes can produce a kind of human proteins that stimulate the immune system. Third, it can also manufacture a type of viral proteins that induce and activate immune cells, enhancing the immunological capacity of patients against cancer cells.

The researchers found that the current experiments are still in a pilot phase, which focuses primarily on safety tests. It is still early to conclude that the results of this new treatment could be better than that of conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy. British scientists have decided that later this year will be conducted experiments on a larger scale, to compare the effects of this new therapy over existing treatments. 

@RdzgCarlos With a Creative Commons Licence International 4.0