STANFORD, California – Researchers with Stanford University's School of Medicine have made "startling" progress in their quest to cure cancer.
On Wednesday, researchers published a summary of their findings that concluded that the use of "two immune-stimulating agents" cured all but three of 90 lymphoma-infected laboratory mice used in their study.
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“When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumors all over the body,” Dr. Ronald Levy, Stanford professor of oncology said.
While the cancer recurred in three of the mice, the tumors again regressed after a second treatment using the two agents.
According to a report from Stanford Medicine, mice genetically engineered to spontaneously develop breast cancers in all 10 of their mammary pads also responded to the treatment.
"Treating the first tumor that arose often prevented the occurrence of future tumors and significantly increased the animals’ life span, the researchers found," the report said.
One of the two agents is already approved for use in humans. The other has been tested in other unrelated clinical trials.
A clinical trial was launched in January to test the effectiveness of the two-agent treatment in 15 people with low-grade lymphoma.
The 97 percent success rate among laboratory mice has Levy convinced the agents could work for many types of tumors.
“I don’t think there’s a limit to the type of tumor we could potentially treat, as long as it has been infiltrated by the immune system,” Levy said.
He said he hopes the two-agent method will someday be used in humans with cancer prior to surgical removal of the tumor
That way, treatment, if successful, could curb the recurrence of cancer due to lingering cells and unidentified growths.