The Researchers Have Found A Way To Treat Ovarian Cancer.
By counting the enumerate of cancer-fighting vaccinated cells inside tumors, scientists mean they may have found a way to predict survival from ovarian cancer. The researchers developed an theoretical method to count these cells, called tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs), in women with at daybreak stage and advanced ovarian cancer. "We have developed a standardizable method that should one day be at one's fingertips in the clinic to better inform physicians on the best course of cancer therapy, therefore improving treatment and patient survival," said lead actor researcher Jason Bielas, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle.
The check may have broader implications beyond ovarian cancer and be useful with other types of cancer, the observe authors suggested. In their current work with ovarian cancer patients, the researchers "demonstrated that this routine can be used to diagnose T-cells quickly and effectively from a blood sample," said Bielas, an confidant member in human biology and public health sciences. The report was published online Dec 4, 2013 in Science Translational Medicine.
The researchers developed the probe to quantify TILs, identify their frequency and develop a system to determine their ability to clone themselves. This is a condition of measuring the tumor's population of immune T-cells. The test mechanism by collecting genetic information of proteins only found in these cells. "T-cell clones have unique DNA sequences that are comparable to offshoot barcodes on items at the grocery store.
Our technology is comparable to a barcode scanner". The technique, called QuanTILfy, was tested on tumor samples from 30 women with ovarian cancer whose survival ranged from one month to about 10 years. Bielas and colleagues looked at the horde of TILs in the tumors, comparing those numbers to the women's survival. The researchers found that higher TIL levels were linked with better survival.