A team of researchers out of Australia have reportedly come up with a special type of virus that they claim can successfully kill all types of cancer, one which they hope to see human trials started next year, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The treatment, called CF33, was developed by the Australian biotech company, Imugene.
Interestingly, it’s actually a cowpox-style virus that has apparently proven incredibly successful in destroying cancer cells.
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Historically, viruses have been used to combat other diseases. For instance, cowpox was actually used as the basis for the first smallpox vaccine after it was discovered to have provided immunity to those who once experienced it themselves before being exposed to smallpox.
Cancer expert Professor Yuman Fong is engineering the treatment, science which he says has been around for decades.
“There was evidence that viruses could kill cancer from the early 1900s when people vaccinated against rabies had their cancer disappear, they went into remission,” he told The Daily Telegraph .
“The problem was if you made the virus toxic enough to kill cancer you were worried it would also kill man.”
However, he’s confident he’s developed a virus powerful enough to eliminate cancer cells, but safe enough for human consumption.
The CF33 virus has been successful in minimizing cancer cells in mouse test subjects, and Professor Fong says they plan to begin human trials next year.
Specifically, the virus will be used to treat patients with triple-negative breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer, bladder, gastric and bowel cancer.
As per the treatment, the CF33 virus is injected tumors where it multiples before essentially causing the tumor to explode and die.
But before anyone gets too excited about the prospect of this incredible breakthrough, Professor Fong says it’ll be a long road of testing before it’s ever actually used in a hospital setting.
Cancer Council chief Professor Sanchia Aranda said they’ll have to watch whether human immune systems mount a defense against the virus and if there are any “nasty side effects.”
As she explained, “Cancer cells are very clever, they are true Darwinians that mutate to survive and there is a likelihood they will evolve to become resistant to the virus as they do now to become resistant to chemotherapy and immunotherapy.”
h/t: The Daily Telegraph
