Cancer Prevention Gel

Surgery is often a first line of treatment for cancer, but remnants of tumors that remain can result in a recurrence, and even spread, of the disease. According to a recently published study, a gel has been developed that could activate the immune system to kill off whatever cancer cells remain using the body’s own immune system.

In a proof-of-concept experiment on mice, a gel of nanoparticles was used to deactivate one of cancer’s key defense mechanisms. Known as CD47, the molecule is normally found on red blood cells and serves to signal the immune system not to target and destroy them. But cancer cells use it for the same purpose, allowing them to avoid being attacked. So the gel was formulated to contain an anti-CD47 molecule that effectively disables the cancer cells’ defenses so that the immune system can wipe them out.

It’s not yet known whether the approach will be a viable cancer treatment for humans. Only after successful experiments on larger mammals will the first rounds of human trials begin.