Home Tags Posts tagged with "translational medicine"

translational medicine

0

British researchers have shown that a tumor-killing virus can sneak around the body by “hitchhiking” on the back of blood cells.

It is hoped reoviruses can be used to treat cancer, but there were fears they would not work if the immune system could wipe them out.

A study published in Science Translational Medicine showed the viruses could hide in the blood and reach their target.

Experts said it was an important step in advancing cancer therapies.

Reoviruses are normally harmless, but they can cause stomach upsets and colds in childhood. However, it seems they have the ability to infect and kill some cancerous cells while leaving the surrounding tissue unharmed.

However, experiments on mice suggested the virus would not survive in the blood as the immune system would destroy it.

It meant the virus would need to be injected directly into the tumour or be given with drugs to suppress the immune system.

British researchers have shown that a tumor-killing virus can sneak around the body by "hitchhiking" on the back of blood cells

British researchers have shown that a tumor-killing virus can sneak around the body by "hitchhiking" on the back of blood cells

A study in 10 people at the University of Leeds and The Institute of Cancer Research, at the Royal Marsden Hospital, showed that the virus could escape the immune system by hiding in the blood.

All the patients had advanced bowel cancer which had spread to the liver, and were injected with doses of the reovirus ahead of their scheduled surgery.

The virus was detected in the tumor, but not the liver, meaning it was selectively targeting the cancer. In the blood, the virus was detected in blood cells, not the liquid blood plasma all the cells float in, meaning it was “hitchhiking”, the researchers said.

Prof. Alan Melcher, from the University of Leeds, said the virus was “even cleverer” than previously thought.

“By piggybacking on blood cells, the virus is managing to hide from the body’s natural immune response and reach its target intact.”

Prof. Alan Melcher said he had “no doubt” the virus would be eventually used “in combination with chemotherapy”.

Dr. Kevin Harrington, from the Institute of Cancer Research, said: “Viral treatments like reovirus are showing real promise in patient trials.

“This study gives us the very good news that it should be possible to deliver these treatments with a simple injection into the bloodstream.”

Why reoviruses affect only cancer cells is not entirely understood. Cancer cells behave very differently to healthy cells, which may make them more susceptible to infection.

Doctors are already testing the virus in some trials in people, such as studies on head and neck cancer.

Prof. John Bell, from the University of Ottawa, has researched using genetically modified viruses to attack cancer cells.

He said viruses could be “exquisitely selective” in targeting tumors, and that this latest study had shown how safe the technique was.

“This study is an important next step in advancing oncolytic virus therapies into cancer patients.”

 

0

US researchers have used a blood sample from mother and saliva from father to sequence the genome of a foetus in the womb.

At the time, the mother was just 18 weeks into the pregnancy.

The doctors said the findings, reported in Science Translational Medicine, could eventually lead to foetuses being screened for thousands of genetic disorders in a single and safe test.

However, they also caution it would raise “many ethical questions”.

US researchers have used a blood sample from mother and saliva from father to sequence the genome of a foetus in the womb

US researchers have used a blood sample from mother and saliva from father to sequence the genome of a foetus in the womb

The scientists at the University of Washington used pieces of the foetus’ DNA which naturally float around in the pregnant woman’s blood.

These fragments were then pieced together using the parents’ DNA as a guide to build a complete “map” of the foetus’s genome.

They then compared the genetic map drawn 18 weeks into pregnancy with the foetus’ actual DNA taken from the umbilical cord after birth. It was 98% accurate.

The researchers hope their findings will one day be used to test safely for genetic diseases.

Tests do already exist such as those for Down’s syndrome. To test for Down’s syndrome a sample is taken from the sac around the developing foetus, which comes with a risk of miscarriage.

They also say new genetic defects, which are not present in the parents, could be picked up if the technique could be improved. Such mutations form in the eggs, sperm or at conception.

There were 44 new mutations in the foetus and the screen at 18 weeks found 39 of them. However, the screening also detected 25 million possible new mutations or false positives.

One of the researchers, Dr. Jay Shendure, said: “This work opens up the possibility that we will be able to scan the whole genome of the foetus for more than 3,000 single-gene disorders through a single, non-invasive test.”

 

© © 2011 - 2023 BelleNews.com