Umbilical Blood Cells Kill Cancer Quicker Than Adult Cells, Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children Study
Immature but deadly. Immune cells in fetal blood are better at destroying leukaemia cells than adult cells, tests in mice suggest.
The results are a surprise because fetal immune cells haven’t had the lifelong “training” that adult immune cells have had, yet they still seem to recognise and destroy abnormal cells.
People with blood cancers like leukaemia have to undergo chemotherapy to eradicate the blood cells that are causing their cancer. The collateral damage is that most, if not all their healthy blood cells go too. Stem cells from bone marrow transplants are used to repopulate their circulatory system with healthy blood cells. The transplant has an extra benefit: the new immune cells in the blood can help finish off any residual cancer cells that survived the chemotherapy.
The results are a surprise because fetal immune cells haven’t had the lifelong “training” that adult immune cells have had, yet they still seem to recognise and destroy abnormal cells.
People with blood cancers like leukaemia have to undergo chemotherapy to eradicate the blood cells that are causing their cancer. The collateral damage is that most, if not all their healthy blood cells go too. Stem cells from bone marrow transplants are used to repopulate their circulatory system with healthy blood cells. The transplant has an extra benefit: the new immune cells in the blood can help finish off any residual cancer cells that survived the chemotherapy.