US scientists discovered that a "suicide gene therapy" technique is able to kill prostate cancer cells according to a research published by Journal of Radiation Oncology.
The technique got its name "suicide gene therapy" because the tumour cells in the body self-destruct. By being genetically modified, the cancer cells are attacked by the patient's immune system.
Cancer cells are not recognized by the body as enemies because they have originated from normal healthy cells. Unlike when the body gets an infection, it will try to fight the virus.
In the new technique, a virus will carry the gene therapy into the tumour cell where it will self-destruct. It will then alert the patient's immune system to launch an attack.
"We may be able to inject the agent straight into the tumour and let the body kill the cancer cells," Dr Brian Butler, from Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, said in a report by BBC News.
"Once the immune system has knowledge of the bad tumour cells, if they pop up again, the body will know to kill them," he added.
Scientists found 20 per cent improvement in the survival rate of patients with prostate cancer after five years of "suicide gene therapy."
However, more research is needed to judge the effectiveness of suicide gene therapy.
"We would need a randomised trial to tell if this treatment is better than radiotherapy alone. The viruses used in this study cannot reproduce. Next generation viral therapies for cancer can selectively replicate in cancer cells, something that can kill the cancer cell directly, and also help spread the virus to neighbouring cancer cells," Kevin Harrington, professor of biological cancer therapies at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said.
"It would be interesting to see this approach used with viruses that could reproduce to see if it makes for a more effective treatment."
"Suicide gene therapy" showed a promising treatment for prostate cancer when combined with radiotherapy.
