DAVIS, Ca. – Scientists have just discovered a way to kill off cancerous cells, a new process that could improve cancer treatment. A research team from the University of California, Davis (UCD) Comprehensive Cancer Center has found a method to detonate the mechanism that leads to the heart of cancerous tumors.
The result, which was published as a scientific paper Cell Death & Differentiation last month, demonstrated that the blood vessels in question control access to the tumor tissue.
Until the blood vessels are opened, engineered immune cells can’t easily gain entry to the cancer to fight it off, as explained by Science Alert.
As such, the timer bomb on these cells is in fact a “death” receptor, reportedly called Fas (or CD95).
When these “kill switches” are activated by the right antibody, it triggers the programmed death of that cell, the website states.
UCD’s scientists and colleagues at Indiana University had argued that until recently, Fas had been “undervalued in cancer immunotherapy”.
To read more, click on MSN
