Latest news with #ZhaoYongxiang
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New cancer therapy ‘disguises' tumors as pork to trigger immune attack, 90% effective
In a groundbreaking moment for cancer, Chinese researchers turned the immune response provoked by organ transplants to fight the leading cause of death worldwide. According to Columbia University's Department of Surgery, 10-20% of patients who undergo transplant surgery will experience at least one rejection. However, researchers in China ingeniously turned that negative into a positive by directing that powerful impulse to attack cancer cells. Called a 'tumor-to-pork' strategy, a new study published in Cell earlier this year demonstrated immense success in engineering a virus that tricked the human body into believing that cancer cells were pig tissue, according to the South China Morning Post, thereby triggering a hyperacute inflammatory response. The virus began attacking the tumor with a staggering 90% success rate, to the point of curing a patient with advanced cervical cancer. A new and completely genius pathway opened up in the world's pursuit of a cure for cancer. Researchers noted, however, that further investigations are necessary as cancers are notoriously clever diseases. Nevertheless, one mechanism could be manipulated to attack a disease with the same fervor as a totally foreign agent, such as pig genes. Professor Zhao Yongxiang, director of the State Key Laboratory of Targeting Oncology at Guangxi Medical University, led the inspiring study. In an act of brilliant trickery, he investigated the immune response to transplant failure and engineered a virus that would, hopefully, provoke the body to kill cancer cells. Taking a relatively benign virus, Newcastle disease virus (NDV), which causes little harm to humans, he and his team injected a pig gene to create a mutated new NDV-GT virus, as per South China Morning Post. Infecting cancerous cells with this virus, the pig gene effectively alerted the body to a foreign entity that inspires total rejection, so they pulverized the cancer cell by disguising it. Cancer might be clever, but Zhao strategized a special cloak that made the human body respond differently and more aggressively. First, they conducted a series of animal studies, including monkeys. The results allowed them to move to human trials. Miraculously, even if further work should be conducted on the new approach, the human patients made incredible strides in healing. They onboarded 23 patients with various untreatable cancers (liver, ovarian, cervical, lung, etc.) and administered weekly intravenous and intraperitoneal infusions for eight to 12 weeks, as per the study in Cell. South China Morning Post continued that the patients experienced a range of stunning results: partial remission, clinically viable cure, and halted tumor growth. Statistically, the clinical trials showed a 90% success rate with few negative effects. As Zhao concluded, the clinical trials are entering phases 2 and 3, which would move the treatment into the later stages of testing that aim to evaluate its potential and safety profile. We could be at the threshold of actually being able to defeat cancer, and it was born from an idea to direct a powerful response toward an unbeatable enemy.
Iraqi News
20-03-2025
- Health
- Iraqi News
Chinese scientists develop cancer treatment that makes tumors mimic ‘pork'
INA- SOURCES Chinese scientists have developed a pioneering cancer treatment that modifies tumors to resemble 'pork,' effectively triggering the body's immune system to attack them, according to a report by the South China Morning Post on Monday. The researchers have engineered tumors to mimic pig tissue, prompting the immune system to recognize them as foreign and launch a targeted attack using the same response that leads to organ transplant rejection. The study, published in Cell on Jan. 18, employs a genetically modified virus to disguise cancer cells as pig tissue, inducing a hyperacute immune rejection that specifically targets tumors while sparing healthy cells. Early clinical trials have shown remarkable results, with 90% of patients suffering from advanced, treatment-resistant cancers experiencing either halted tumor growth or shrinkage. One cervical cancer patient was even declared clinically cured. This breakthrough offers new hope for patients whose cancers have not responded to conventional therapies, opening a promising new direction in oncology. The research, led by Professor Zhao Yongxiang, director of the State Key Laboratory of Targeting Oncology at Guangxi Medical University, has gained widespread attention on Chinese social media.
South China Morning Post
17-03-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Chinese scientists turn tumours into ‘pork' in radical cancer treatment
Scientists have turned the same immune response that rejects organ transplants to their advantage – to target cancer Advertisement In a trailblazing fusion of immunology and ingenuity, a team of Chinese researchers have been engineering tumours to mimic pork, thereby triggering the body's immune system to attack them with unprecedented precision. Their pioneering study, published in the journal Cell on January 18, uses a genetically modified virus to 'disguise' cancer cells as foreign pig tissue, sparking a hyperacute immune rejection response that attacks the tumours while leaving healthy cells untouched. Early clinical trials report staggering success: 90 per cent of patients with advanced, treatment-resistant cancers – such as liver, ovarian and lung – achieved halted tumour growth or shrinkage, with one cervical cancer patient declared clinically cured. By repurposing a mechanism that is notorious for organ transplant rejection, this 'tumour-to-pork' strategy has opened a new frontier in the fight against cancer, offering hope where conventional therapies have failed. Advertisement The study, led by Professor Zhao Yongxiang, director of the State Key Laboratory of Targeting Oncology, Guangxi Medical University, is now trending on China's social media.
