New cancer treatment reactivates the patient\'s immune system London – Arab Today A new immunity boosting drug has been identified, which could help the body fight cancer. The treatment, which is being tested for the first time on humans , was discovered by scientists at the University of Southampton and is used to tackle cancers of the pancreas, head and neck.
It works by boosting the immune system’s ability to recognise mutating cells, early in their production.
Conventionally, cancers ‘switch off’ immune cells, rendering them incapable of recognition.  The early-stage tumourous cells would then rapidly multiply into a cancerous growth.
The new drug called ChiLob 7/4 works by reactivating dormant immune cells, and stimulates them to divide forming new cells.
A trial on 26 patients suffering from pancreatic cancer has shown positive results.. Scientists at the university will begin trials with the new treatment next year, as part of a £5 million GBP European Union funded project.
Professor Martin Glennie, who led the team of researcher said, “What we are finding is there are a whole spectrum of receptors on immune cells that switch them on and off.  If we use this with a vaccine we can steer the immune cells and train them to target the cancer.”
The drug is the latest in a range of new cancer treatments which uses the patients own immune system to combat tumours, instead of using radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
The university is establishing a dedicated Cancer Immunotherapy Centre to research new treatments to fight cancer.