Skin cancer is not one of the most common types of cancer currently, but as the fastest growing type of cancer in many countries, it is set to overtake prostate and breast cancer. However, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have found a way to use cell therapy with human adult stem cells to help the body fight off cancer. This cure is even more impressive, given that the tumor was in a solid state at the beginning of treatment with the adult stem cells, and that it was the only form of cancer therapy given to this particular patient. While the study involved only one participant, the team responsible for the adult stem cell success in curing the human disease are hoping to extend the research very soon. In patients with cancer, infection-fighting T-cells in the patient's own body are one of the most important factors in getting rid of the human disease. Dr Cassian Yee, a member of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson, led a team that put patient into long term remission by injecting him with 5 billion clones of his killer T-cells. The particular human adult stem cells used were CD4+ T cells, and the patient was a 52 year old man with Stage 4 melanoma. The cell therapy on this patient had shrunk his tumor to nothing, two months after the initial injection. Two years later, when the study results were published, the man still remained cancer free, due to the benefits of stem cell therapy. While the results have been hailed as no less than amazing by other researchers, the media and general public, the study's leader Dr Yee remains cautious. In the journal's 'Brief Report', he reminded readers that the results represented a patient with only one specific type of immune system, and the tumor cells this man had were specifically chosen for the study because they express a certain type of antigen. Recognized stem cell benefits have recently been expanded to include not only injury recovery, stroke recovery, plastic surgery augmentation and stem cell therapy for parkinson's, but new oncology applications like this. The idea is not necessarily new, but researchers are now refining the types of cells they use, and the methods of application of these human adult stem cells. Previously, Yee and his team had used CD8+ T-cells, however these do not survive in the body alone. They need either CD4+ T-cells or growth factors, like interleukin2. Studies which add to the knowledge that Yee's study has brought include Harvard Medical School studies involving injecting cancer cells, a reversed form of cell therapy, into mouse ova. The mouse ovum reacts as if it has been fertilized by sperm, however embryonic mice do not develop. Embryonic stem cells(the focus of the stem cell debate) are created by this process, which the researchers then inject into healthy mouse blastocysts (very early embryos). While some of the mice developed cancer, not all did - showing that it is possible for natural processes to reverse cancerous growth.
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