Bespoke cancer trials edge closer

A major British discovery is expected to lead to revolutionary bespoke treatments for patients with advanced cancer. It could enter trials within two years.

Researchers have spotted rare ‘flag’ proteins that act as immune system targets and are displayed on the surface of all of a patient’s tumour cells, wherever they might be in the body. Normally they are shielded from the immune system, or missed because rapidly-evolving cancers present too many constantly changing targets.

Once the omnipresent proteins, or ‘antigens’, are isolated, potent immune system cells called T-cells can be employed as homing missiles to zero in on them and destroy the cancer. Such an approach, which involves mapping the DNA in a patient’s tumour sample, would help to overcome the ability of cancers to resist therapies by altering their genetic make-up.