Researchers at National Cancer Institute successfully treated cervical cancer in two women with the help of immune therapy.
According to the researchers, the treatment completely cured the patients' cervical cancer and the two women have remained cancer-free for more than one year.
For the study, the researchers recruited 9 women who were diagnosed with cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). All of the patients received an immune-based therapy, a new form of treatment that takes the patient's own cells and uses them to fight the tumor.
"This proof-of-principle study shows that adoptive transfer of HPV-targeted T cells can cause complete remission of metastatic cervical cancer and that this remission can be long-lasting," Dr Hinrichs said reports to Philly.
Of the nine patients, the treatment killed the tumors in the two women. One of the patients was Arrica Wallace from Manhattan, KS, who was diagnosed with the cancer in 2011. The tumor spread throughout her body and did not respond to the strongest chemotherapy and radiation options.
The other patient, whose name was not disclosed, has been cancer free for 15 months after receiving treatment. The researchers warned that they were unsure whether or not the cancer will return in the long run.
"I couldn't give up," said Wallace, a mother of two, reports ABC News. "It's been 22 months since treatment and 17 months of completely clean scans."
The tumor in a third patient reportedly shrunk. However, it lasted just three months and the cancer returned. The remaining six patients did not benefit at all from this type of treatment. The researchers plan to research why immune therapy failed in these cases. Moreover, the team is currently testing immune-based treatments for throat, anal and other types of cancers that are caused by HPV.
This study was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference located in Chicago, IL.
