PENN Medicine worked alongside with the National Cancer Institute in a current study that used genetically engineered human immune cells to destroy cancer cells having mesothelin, a protein component in all pancreatic cancers and mesothelioma.

Former laboratory findings have presented that antibodies aimed at mesothelin can make tumor cells smaller while specific T-cells or human immune cells can eliminate tumor cells that produce mesothelin. It was shown in the study that depending on the size of the tumors and the number of cells applied, approximately one mesothelin targeted T-cell have consumed around 40 tumor cells.

Clinical studies are on its way to examine this method of defeating tumors in mesothelioma and ovarian cancer patients.

Source: New Study Provides Hope for Mesothelioma Cure