Researchers use genetically modified circulating tumor cells to kill other tumors

An international team of medical researchers has found a way to use a kind of cancer cell as a cargo vessel of sorts to kill already existing tumors. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes how they genetically modified a certain type of cancer cell to kill existing tumors on contact, and the results they found using their approach in test mice.

One of the ways that researchers would like to combat tumors is by injecting a silver-bullet of sorts into the bloodstream that would move about the body until it finds a tumor – when it does, the bullet would open and pummel the tumor with chemicals known to kill tumors. This approach would allow for targeting tumors without harming other parts of the body. Up till now, such research has focused primarily on developing manmade nanoparticle delivery agents – in this new effort the researchers took a whole new approach.