Cells that kill cancer

Tumors are sly. To survive,
the cells bypass our immune
systems by retaining similarities
to healthy cells. But
they also have differences. Over the past
decade, researchers have targeted these
unique traits to re-enlist the body’s department
of defense. Immunotherapies
train our own systems to detect those
distinct variances. This year, that effort
took a huge leap: The FDA approved
Scientists, the first human gene- edited
therapy for cancer. The treatment
modifies a patient’s T cells (specialized
white blood cells) to add a receptor that
locates the malignant ones so the killer
T’s can attack them. In trials, 83 percent
of patients were in remission after three
months. One reason scientists works
so well is that it’s the most customized
method to date: The modified cells are
specific to both the patient and their disease.
Rubber-stamped to kill a type of
leukemia in young people, scientists and
drugs like it could one day treat many
other cancers, changing medicine’s
approach to the disease for good.

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