Tricking the Immune System: A New Approach to Targeting Cancer Cells by Mimicking Pig Organs
Scientists have developed a novel approach to cancer treatment by tricking the immune system into attacking tumors.
This technique involves using lab-grown viruses to make cancer cells resemble pig organs, which prompts the immune system to target and destroy them.
The method works by coating tumor cells with specific sugars found on pig cells, sugars that trigger a powerful immune response in humans.
This mechanism is similar to how the body rejects transplanted pig organs, which are recognized as foreign due to these sugars.
Immuno-oncologist Brian Lichty from McMaster University calls the strategy “early days,” emphasizing that further clinical testing is needed to fully assess its potential.
The approach, led by immunologist Yongxiang Zhao, draws from both transplant medicine and oncolytic virotherapy, a cancer treatment that uses viruses to either kill tumor cells directly or boost the immune response.
The team used Newcastle disease virus—harmless to humans but deadly to birds—engineered to carry genetic instructions for an enzyme that adds pig-specific sugars to tumor cells.
In early tests with cynomolgus monkeys, those treated with the engineered virus survived significantly longer than those given saline.
The promising results have led to trials in human patients, although researchers caution that more data is needed before the method can be widely adopted as an effective cancer treatment.
Authors: Liping Zhong, Lu Gan, Bing Wang, Tao Wu, Fei Yao, Wenlin Gong, Hongmei Peng, Zhiming Deng, Guoyou Xiao, Xiyu Liu, Jintong Na, Desong Xia, Xianjun Yu, Zhikun Zhang, Bangde Xiang, Yu Huo, Dan Yan, Zhixin Dong, Fang Fang, Yun Ma, Guanqiao Jin, Danke Su, Xiuli Liu, Qiang Li, Hai Liao, Chao Tang, Jian He, Zhiping Tang, Shilai Zhang, Bingqing Qiu, Zhi Yang, Lihui Yang, Ziqin Chen, Mengsi Zeng, Ronghua Feng, Jiege Jiao, Yuan Liao, Tinghua Wang, Liangliang Wu, Zhengcheng Mi, Ziqun Liu, Si Shi, Kun Zhang, Wei Shi, Yongxiang Zhao.
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