So… a woman’s cancer was suppressed by measles?
Is this a potential cancer cure? Or the start of an “I Am Legend”, IRL zombie apocalypse? For the former: No – because it’s not a “blanket” cure (just one kind of cancer’s responded to it). Also, you must repeat studies a lot to even imply – not prove – causation (this just looked at a couple patients). Oh, right. And necrotic reanimated brain-eaters aren’t real. Yet.
That said, it still doesn’t make this any less effing amazing!
47 year old Stacy Erholtz, afflicted with multiple myeloma, had her disease sent into remission – by getting mainlined a concentrated measles sample. This works specifically for patients like Stacy because of which type of cancer she’s got. Multiple myeloma, thought to be incurable, screws the immune system over. While that sucks, that also means this new tweaked vaccine variant can do its job. With a lowered immune system, it gets right in like a Navy SEAL to annihilate cancer cells before the body’s panic alarms can sound.
But how does it work? Once inside, the virus essentially tricks the cancer cells into holding hands and blowing up. As with the monsters themselves at the end of the Will Smith flick (#spoileralert), they join together and explode like a family reunion gone wrong.
What’s more, multiple myeloma expert Angela Dispenzieri says: “There’s some suggestion it may be stimulating the patients’ immune system to further recognize the cancer cells.” That’s good news – because you can only take this badboy once. And just just how much of the single-shot stuff does it take?
Enough to vaccinate one hundred…million…people.
“…I was happy to hear that AFTER the fact,” Stacy admitted. (Yeah, man. I would have definitely psyched myself into a shitty outcome if they’d told me that first). But the final results didn’t lie. The past ten years of her personal battle got matched by an equal amount of time spent by Mayo, battling it in the lab.
And it was Dr. Federspiel of The Mayo Clinic’s gene and virus therapy lab that encountered this viral eureka. Also, since is deemed a safe strain, there’s hope it’ll pass all that FDA red tape. That may sound boring. But that’s a real hurdle in the world of developing cures you can actually pass out along with a sticker and a lolli – oh yeah – and the priceless gift of life extension. #duh
“We’ve gone in collaboration with FDA to find a safe way…that’s their mandate – to support these kinds of trials,” Federspiel says, “but to try to do it safely.”
So…how’s Stacy doing? Save for a subcutaneous soft tissue tumor (transl: forehead lump), Stacy’s doing amazingly well. Her tumors shrank and she went into remission for nine months. Unlike the chemotherapy and stem cell treatments she tried for the past decade, the viral remedy’s kept her cancer at bay. Woot!
And the side effects? Well, like the unpleasant treatments she’d done before, this one’s not without its nasty side effects: vomiting, fever, low blood pressure, and racing heartbeat happen – but abate within a few days.
What about that other patient? The second woman sadly passed away as her cancer returned two months later. But this doesn’t mean the virus failed completely as a treatment. Scientists tracked the virus’s attack point using an iodine-shutting protein. As it turns out, the virus did infect the tumors… it just didn’t kill them. Aaaand…that’s why we repeat studies. To see how often potential remedies like this actually work.
Mmmkay. Who’s eligible? So far just multiple myeloma sufferers who haven’t been vaccinated with MMR (that annoying shot that feels like a horse kicked you). This grenade of goodness relies on fewer of the body’s antibodies hanging around to mistake it for the bad guy. So we can’t have a previous measles vaccine inducing antibodies and messing up shiz when the big guns are needed.
In sum No, they’ve not found the blanket cure for cancer. But what they’ve found thus far has illuminated the life of a woman previously given an early expiration date, and offers hope for the future fight against a formidable enemy. In fact, after these labcoat rockin’ heroes whip up a new batch, they’re running a 20 person test.
LIKE A BOSS.