Scientists cure skin melanoma of mice in trial, train body to stop tumours returning
Treatment works as immunotherapy, using immune system to fight tumour, and also trains body to be able to destroy cancer again.
A new study has revealed that a jab which destroys skin cancer and stops it coming back could be one step closer.
Researchers have created a cocktail of drugs which can fight off deadly melanoma with a 100 per cent success rate in mice.
They simply added a chemical known to stimulate the immune system to a drug already being tested for cancer therapy.
They study found that within 54 days a single type of cancer killed 75 to 100 per cent of the mice given the drug without the chemical, but none of those receiving the combination.
The treatment works as an immunotherapy, using the immune system to fight the tumour, and also trains the body to be able to destroy the cancer again if it comes back – like a vaccine.
Notably, when researchers tried to give cured mice the same cancer again they couldn't because the jab had immunised them against the tumours.
The study was conducted by Scripps Research and the University of Texas.
Researchers used an immunotherapy drug alongside various chemicals intended to make it work better.
The chemicals used are thought to act the same way in humans.
The team's findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.