British scientists say they have accidentally discovered a new type of immune cell which may help in developing a therapy to treat all cancers.The new type of killer T-cell that researchers at Cardiff University have discovered offers hope of a “one-size-fits-all” cancer therapy, the university said on its website about the study published in Nature Immunology.
The CAR-T that is currently used widely is successful only for a few types of cancers, and not for solid tumours, which make up the vast majority of cancers. But the newly discovered T-cells are equipped with a new type of T-cell receptor, which “recognises and kills most human cancer types, while ignoring healthy cells.”
“Previously nobody believed this could be possible,” Prof. Andrew Sewell, lead author on the study and an expert in T-cells from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine, said. ...