Modified immune cells decimated chronic lymphocytic leukemia, scientists found.

What’s the News: Striking results in a very small study have got the web a-buzz about a new cancer treatment: With three leukemia patients at the ends of their ropes, scientists modified some of their immune cells with a gene that enabled them to hunt down cancer cells. Remarkably, the treatment wiped out more than two pounds of tumor tissue in each patient, and the three have now been in remission for a year.

But what weight does such a small study carry, what about the side effects, and what do these results mean for people with other cancers?

How the Heck:

First, the team removed immune cells called T cells from each of the patients, who had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a cancer affecting blood cells called B cells.
They had a lab-built virus insert a gene for a protein that would recognize a specific tag appearing only on the surface of B cells, as well as genes for two other proteins involved in the process, into the T cells. (This kind of treatment, called gene therapy, has been of interest in treating cancer ...