Trojan horse cancer strategy combats cancer in mice

Trojan horse cancer strategy has successfully eliminated prostate cancer in experiments on mice, a group of British researchers said.

Trojan horse cancer strategy combats cancer in mice

The strategy involves hiding cancer-killing viral particles inside the immune system in order to sneak them into a tumor. Tens of thousands of the friendly viruses are then released to kill the cancer cells.

After using the new approach in their experiments on mice with prostate cancer, the scientists found all the mice tested survived and showed no signs of the disease.

The breakthrough has been hailed as "exciting," although trials in people will be needed to ensure that the approach is safe and effective for treating human prostate cancer.

The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Sheffield Medical School and Uppsala University, and was funded by the Prostate Cancer Charity and Yorkshire Cancer Research. It was published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research.