Cancer
A harmless form of the HIV virus could be employed in the fight against cancer new research has suggested. Scientists at the University of California successfully introduced the virus, minus the disease-causing elements, to mice and found it rapidly tracked down cancer cells. The rodents had been infected with a form of skin cancer that had spread to their lungs.
Scientists removed the coating of the virus which normally attacks the immune system and gave it a new coating that directed it to attack molecules present in cancer cells. They also added a substance that allowed experts to see how the virus was moving through a special camera.
"The virus travelled through the bloodstream and homed in straight to the cancer cells in the lungs," said researcher, Dr Irvin Chen, of UCLA's Aids Institute.
The next step in the process is to insert a gene into the virus that would kill the cancer upon contact, a development that has so far been impeded by the inability to find an effective carrier. Although more safety studies are required before the technique can be tested on humans, the development, Chen said, "proves that it is possible to develop an effective carrier and reprogram it to target specific cells in the body"
Dr Georges Vassaux, from Cancer Research UK's molecular therapy laboratory, said: "This is the first time a delivery system for gene therapy has targeted a tumour in such a specific manner. This means the technique could be used in cases where cancer has spread around the body."
