Experimental therapy trains immune cells to kill leukemia

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/experimental-therapy-trains-immune-cells-hunt-kill-blood-cancers/

"...TONY DEMARCO: They put you on a machine similar to a dialysis machine, where they will have one line in one arm, and one line in the other arm, and it takes your blood out through the machine, and through a centrifuge.

JACKIE JUDD: From there, T cells, part of the body’s immune system, are extracted from the patient’s blood and genetically altered to recognize leukemia. The T cells are modified with deactivated HIV, the very same virus that causes AIDS.

In this case, the HIV is doing good. The so-called hunter cells are then put back in the patient.

David Porter treats DeMarco and other adults in the trials.

DR. DAVID PORTER, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania: This virus is very efficient at getting into the T cells and into the immune cells.

I use an analogy when I explain this to my patients, that a cancer cell has a piece of Velcro stuck on it, but the T cell doesn’t have the other piece of Velcro to stick together. We’re genetically changing that T cell to put a new piece of Velcro on the outside, so now it can see, and recognize, and stick to the cancer cell, and start killing it..."

Virus therapy with cancer will eradicate it as we know it within 20 years. I am waiting for phase one studies to end in Sweden, and allow phase 2 studies to begin at Baylor university with virus therapy which has been 100% effective in killing endocrine cancer cells in mice......Big Pharm has not been helpful, and is doing almost zero funding of this research.....we are talking about a cure for cancer which does not involve expensive drug based therapies which are mostly time buyers and extremely expensive. In my case they are four years away. I will not live four years and have been lucky as hell that Northwestern has the number one in the world radio embolization of the liver which is buying me some time, but never will it be four years.

Big Pharm has been significantly absent on virus therapies. A great review of the same was on Vice on HBO which is the best news program on TV. I am hopeful for my family and grandchildren that they will not have to experience what I have experienced. The future is bright regarding cancer and virus therapies.