Cancer is a disease that has claimed millions of lives for thousands of years. The first recorded case was in 1500 BC in Egypt. The disease was so excruciating that I did not even want it to be afflicted by even the most ruthless enemy. There are several efforts made by scientists to combat this disease such as the development of modern treatments and even vaccines using mRNA technology.
Recently researchers from City of Hope and Imugene Limited announced they have begun clinical trials of the first phase of cancer treatment using the CF33-hNIS VAXINIA virus. In laboratory tests, CF33-hNIS VAXINIA virus shrinks the size of cancers in the ovaries, pancreas, lungs, breasts, and intestines in animals. The virus is injected directly into the tumor or intravenously.
The virus will attack cancer cells before multiplying and killing other cancer cells without invading other healthy body cells. Patients are also given permbrolizumab immunotherapy treatment which is an antibody that gives the body resistance to cancer -producing cells.
This first clinical trial is to see the effectiveness and also whether it is safe to use in humans. Researchers will expand the experiment to 100 patients in 10 locations located in the United States and Australia in stages.