T-Cell Treatment Cures Leukemia in Three Men

American researchers put HIV to good use by getting a derivative of the virus to kill cancerous cells with alarming effectiveness.

Three men with leukemia have been cured of their cancer using genetically reprogrammed t-cells, and the researchers behind the breakthrough say the method could be used to target every form of the killer disease. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania infused the patients' t-cells with a virus derived from HIV, essentially turning the cells into killers targeting cancerous cells throughout the body. Each t-cell was then able to kill about 1,000 cancerous cells, and would spawn new t-cells every time a cancer cell was killed off. The process continued until all three patients were rid of cancer, leading usually reserved scientists to call the breakthrough “profound” (umm, seconded). A year after the test, none of the cancers had returned, and, indeed, the researchers believe the killer t-cells worked like vaccines, meaning they would attack any new cases of leukemia that emerge. The team has other trials lined up to see if the results are replicable, and while the cost of three treatments hit $250,000, that's a cost that seems more than worth it.