There is a new potential solution for brain cancer. According to reports, polio virus can fight brain cancer and FDA wants to fast-track this treatment in the market.
Polio Virus A Potential Treatment For Brain Cancer
The altered polio virus is the creation of Matthias Gromeier, a molecular biologist. He initially re-engineered the polio virus by removing a key genetic sequence. Since the virus can't survive without the said gene, he repaired it by adding a harmless cold virus. The modified polio virus can't cause paralysis or death because it can't reproduce in normal cells.
"All human cancers, they develop a shield or shroud of protective measures that make them invisible to the immune system," Gromeier told CBS News. "This is precisely what we try to reverse with our virus. So by infecting the tumor, we are actually removing this protective shield. And enabling the immune system to come in and attack."
The modified polio virus will initiate the fight against the cancer cells. However, the immune system's ability to attack finishes off the virus, Fox News reported.
Stephanie Lipscomb Volunteers For The Polio Virus Experiment
Per CBS News, Stephanie Lipscomb volunteered for the Duke University's experiment with polio virus. In 2011, Lipscomb was diagnosed with glioblastoma tumor with a size of a tennis ball when she was 20.
According to Abta, glioblastomas are tumors that arise from astrocytes. These tumors are highly malignant because the cells reproduce quickly and they are supported by a large network of blood vessels. Lipscomb was told that she only had a few months to live.
Lipscomb had the tumor removed. Unfortunately, the cancer returns in 2012. After 21 months of the polio virus treatment, Lipscomb's tumor shrank and it was eventually gone. After three years, her MRI results showed no active cancer cells at all.
Per the reports, FDA has given this treatment a "breakthrough" status to fast-track it into the market. In this way, other patients with brain cancer can try the medication.
What do you think of this new brain cancer treatment? Will you recommend this to a family member or friend with brain cancer? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
