Bolton, UK (PRWEB UK) 29 October 2013

According to the BBC, the University Hospital in Birmingham are trialing a new gene therapy hospital treatment, aiding in the fight against prostate cancer (1). The pioneering treatment could help prevent the incidence of surgical errors, increasing the success rate associated with treating the disease.

It is believed, that if the treatment works, surgery for prostate cancer will become a thing of the past, eliminating the surgical errors associated with the procedure.

According to the BBC, the University Hospital in Birmingham is among the first to trial the new treatment, stimulating the bodys own immune system to attack the tumor (1). With studies on mice showing complete eradication of the cancer, hopes are high for the imminent human trials.

A new form of gene therapy, the treatment requires a virus to be injected directly into the prostate cancer tumour; a gene attached to the virus (GM-CSF,) is then released, activating the body's own immune system, attracting white blood cells to attack the cancer (1). As reported by the BBC, the virus also carries an enzyme - nitroreductase - which sits inside the cancer cell.

Two days after the injection, the patient in question will be put on a drip, which contains a cancer drug (CB1954), which is initially inactive. When the drug comes into contact with the enzyme, it reacts and starts killing the cancer cells. The inactive drug, CB1954, does not harm cells which do not have the enzyme inside, protecting the healthy tissue surrounding the tumour (1).

Urology Specialist, Prashant Patel, is hopeful that gene therapy could provide real hope for patients who are running out of treatment options (1).

"I have to stress that this is only a phase one safety trial to test that there are no side effects. However, we are excited by this."

"If this works, 15 to 20 years from now, we could be using the patient's own immune system in this way to fight early onset prostate cancer so that patients won't need painful treatments or even surgery."

Considering the procedure, Asons Executive, Laura Williams

More:

New Gene Therapy Treatment Helps Fight Prostate Cancer, Asons Solicitors Comment