Granulocytes from healthy donors – a cure for cancer?

Wake Forest University scientists working under the guidance of Dr. Zheng Cui are planning to start clinical trials of a new method of antitumor therapy that has demonstrated 100% effectiveness in experiments on mice.

Clinical trials, the permission for which has already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, will consist in the treatment of cancer patients with leukocytes from healthy young people whose immune system has increased antitumor activity.

This method is based on the results of a work published five years ago, during which scientists discovered a tumor-resistant mouse and demonstrated that the introduction of its leukocytes multiplied in cell culture destroys aggressive progressive tumors that have reached a very large size in ordinary laboratory mice. Since then, researchers have been able to identify similar antitumor activity of white blood cells in some healthy people.

The authors tested leukocytes of healthy donors with high antitumor activity against human cervical, prostate and breast cancer cells. Unexpectedly good results were obtained in all experiments. Experts emphasize that granulocytes, which carry out innate immunity reactions, have predominantly antitumor activity.

Granulocytes are the most numerous type of white blood cells and account for up to 60% of white blood cells circulating in the blood of healthy people. Granulocytes can be isolated using the apheresis method, which allows all other blood components to be returned back to the donor's body.

As part of a small study with the participation of volunteers, scientists found that the peak of antitumor activity of leukocytes occurs when a person reaches the age of 50. In addition, their activity may decrease under the influence of external factors such as winter and emotional stress. Thus, the key to the success of the new therapy is the introduction of granulocytes from healthy donors harvested during the peak period of their activity.

For future clinical trials, the researchers plan to attract 500 healthy volunteers aged 50 years or younger, whose granulocytes will be tested for antitumor activity. The 100 most eligible volunteers will be asked to donate blood. The recipients of the cells will be 22 cancer patients whose solid tumors either did not initially respond to therapy or acquired resistance as treatment progressed.

The donor cells isolated by apheresis will be injected into patients for 3-4 consecutive days, and up to three donors may be required to obtain a sufficient number of cells for one patient. Patients will undergo regular examinations, and after three months, scientists will evaluate the results of treatment. If positive test results are obtained, the authors will continue to work to determine whether their proposed approach is the most effective in relation to certain types of cancer.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on EurekAlert materials

01.07.2008