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Cancer cells don't work alone.
Carcinoma cells have partners in crime known as cancer-associated fibroblasts, which make them even more potent and deadly. These cells offer cancer a helping hand by aiding and abetting the cells by shielding them from the body's immune system. This is a biofilm like Harry Potter's invisible cloak.
Scientists have developed a two-pronged virus that can target both, a first tool of its kind. The virus is called enadenotucirev and has been bred to infect only cancer cells leaving healthy cells untouched as a way of treating carcinomas. Early results have been promising suggesting it may even give the body's natural immune response a boost.
By making some alterations, scientists gave enadenotucirev even more cancer-fighting potential. The new genetic instructions would prompt infected cancer cells to produce a protein called bispecific T-cell engager. This protein binds the cancer associated fibroblasts at one end and powerful immune T-cells at the other quickly causing the attached T-cells to kill off the attached fibroblasts.
"We hijacked the virus's machinery so the T-cell engager would be made only in infected cancer cells and nowhere else in the body," says Dr Joshua Freedman, from the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford, first author on the study. "The T-cell engager molecule is so powerful that it can activate immune cells inside the tumor, which are being suppressed by the cancer, to attack the fibroblasts." (Lavars, 2018)
This marks the first time that these specific fibroblasts within solid tumors have been targeted like this. While there are still a lot of uncertainties surrounding this treatment, the scientists have positive feelings about the future of this treatment.
"Even when most of the cancer cells in a carcinoma are killed, fibroblasts can protect the residual cancer cells and help them to recover and flourish," says Dr Kerry Fisher, from the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford. "Until now, there has not been any way to kill both cancer cells and the fibroblasts protecting them at the same time, without harming the rest of the body. Our new technique to simultaneously target the fibroblasts while killing cancer cells with the virus could be an important step towards reducing immune system suppression within carcinomas and should kick-start the normal immune process." (Lavars, 2018)
Ozone therapies can be valuable adjunctive cancer care therapy and can be done in conjunction with chemo and radiation. Ozone therapy increases oxygen utilization allowing oxygen into every cell. Cancer hates oxygen and ozone kills cancer cells. Ozone has been proven to reduce ROS or reactive oxygen species which cause the formation of free radicals.
Chemotherapy and radiation cause oxidative stress and a host of side effects. Several cases published in the German literature show that ozone therapy combined with standard oncology produced positive effects, decreased side effects and created less resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs.
While chemo and radiation might be effective in individual cases it is not necessarily safe or affordable. Two out of every 5 patients who follow standard of care for cancer get diagnosed with a secondary cancer that is more lethal. So you survive the first cancer only to face a more virulent one.
Ozone therapy is safe, effective and affordable. Ozone does not cause cancer.
Ozone is used industrially to disinfect water, clean fruits and vegetables and clean the air. In future, every home will come with a built-in ozone generator.
Advancement in Cancer Research
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