The person who discovers a cure for cancer is guaranteed a place in the history books and the undying gratitude of future generations.

It’s a difficult task to take on, however, because cancer can present in a number of forms, depending on which part of the body it’s attacking.

Now scientists at Cardiff University think they may have found a cure-all solution to the disease that, with a bit more research, could mean the end of a wide range of cancers.

According to BBC, the scientists were studying the human immune system to determine if there were any unusual or previously undiscovered ways that the body attacked cancer cells.

What they found was a T-cell inside people’s blood. This is an immune cell that can scan the body to assess whether there is a threat that needs to be eliminated.

The difference is this one could attack a wide range of cancers.

“There’s a chance here to treat every patient,” researcher Prof Andrew Sewell told the BBC.

He added: “Previously nobody believed this could be possible.

“It raises the prospect of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ cancer treatment, a single type of T-cell that could be capable of destroying many different types of cancers across the population.”

The findings, which were published in Nature Immunology, have not been tested on humans, but the researchers believe that they have “enormous potential”.

I’m inclined to believe them because they’re putting in their due diligence here, unlike others who have promised cures without delivering.

I’m looking at you, Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd.

Back to how the T-cells work:

T-cells have “receptors” on their surface that allow them to “see” at a chemical level.

The Cardiff team discovered a T-cell and its receptor that could find and kill a wide range of cancerous cells in the lab including lung, skin, blood, colon, breast, bone, prostate, ovarian, kidney and cervical cancer cells.

Crucially, it left normal tissues untouched.

Exactly how it does this is still being explored, but researchers have some idea of how they would harness the T-cells in a cure:

The idea is that a blood sample would be taken from a cancer patient.

Their T-cells would be extracted and then genetically modified so they were reprogrammed to make the cancer-finding receptor.

The upgraded cells would be grown in vast quantities in the laboratory and then put back into the patient. It is the same process used to make CAR-T therapies.

Experts agree that the work has massive potential, but that it’s also too early to make any definitive statements about the outcomes of further testing.

It’s going to be a while before we know if an actual cure has been found.

In the meantime, we’ll be keeping a close eye on these findings.

[source:bbc]