New treatment eradicates ovarian and colorectal cancer in days

An experimental new type of cancer treatment has yielded some impressive results in mice: the eradication of advanced-stage ovarian and colorectal cancer in the animals as little as six days.

Human clinical trials could be underway by the end of the year.

The treatment involves tiny 'drug factory' beads that are implanted into the body and deliver a continuous, high dose of interleukin-2 (IL2) – a natural compound that enlists white blood cells in the fight against cancer.

Interleukin-2 is one of a group of immune system-triggering proteins called cytokines. Although cytokines are already used in cancer treatment for melanoma and renal carcinoma, but the problem scientists have is getting cytokines to fight tumours effectively while avoiding dangerously high levels of inflammation elsewhere in the body, causing dramatic side effects. 

In this study, the beads were placed in the peritoneum, a sac-like lining around the intestines, ovaries, and other abdominal organs. That enables the drugs to specifically target the cancer without burdening the body in terms of volume or weight.

The drug factory beads can potentially be adopted for cancers elsewhere in the body, as long as there's a lining where they could house them, and they could be tweaked to deliver different types of drugs. It's a flexible system as well as an innovative one.

What's more, the drugs that are being used here have already been approved as safe for use in clinical trials, which should speed up the process.