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Blood fluke celluvores

Modified blood flukes which gorge on cancer cells.
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At the moment, I am too lazy to research the characteristics of various types of blood flukes. But if we removed their ability to reproduce, tied a filament around them, so they'd eventually choke on their own obesity, and sent them through the blood stream in search of cells with well-known carcinogenic markers...
4and20, Nov 17 2014

Sometimes https://www.euronew...ct-tumours-early-on
even I am amazed by my genius [4and20, Mar 23 2022]

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       Um, what if the cancer isn't a leukaemia?
MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 17 2014
  

       (marked-for-tagline)   

       " At the moment, I am too lazy to research "
normzone, Nov 17 2014
  

       There doesn't appear to be any way Schistoma could specifically be targeted at cancer cells. They don't interact with cells at the level of genetic or cell surface markers where cancerous cells are readily targeted. They don't have any reason to preferentially target fast growing cells.   

       Therefore, [marked-for-deletion] bad science.
MechE, Nov 17 2014
  

       It seems as if the main cause of mortality with cancer is metastasis. True, those cells probably have distinctive markers, but if they metastasize through the blood, they're fair game. I also seem to remember that malignant tumours need steady blood supplies.   

       It also thrills me to report that there are more than 20,000 species of Trematoda. I wash my hands.
4and20, Nov 18 2014
  

       //I wash my hands.// Probably a good idea with all those flukes about.
MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 18 2014
  

       it's probably a whole lot easier to engineer some host immune cells to react to a given marker than to engineer an organism that is little used in science. Also, even if it works, you'll have a whole load of blood flukes about, which are going to be selected. Eventually one of them will get the bright idea of reacting to a different antigen... then you have a blood fluke problem.
bs0u0155, Nov 18 2014
  

       "Well, Mrs. Spinkhorn, I have some good news and some bad news. You're not going to die of metastasizing colon cancer..."   

       And what [bs] said. Host immune cells have all the necessary machinery and are made for the job. If we could target flukes to attack cancer cells, we could target the immune system more easily.
MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 18 2014
  

       regarding cancerous cells that are not in the bloodstream, it's no fluke that immune cells can worm their way into tissue.
bs0u0155, Nov 18 2014
  

       // if we removed their ability to reproduce, tied a filament around them, so they'd eventually choke on their own obesity //   

       That would work on Americans, too ...
8th of 7, Nov 22 2014
  

       Needs more research [+] to be a halfbaked idea [-]
Voice, Mar 23 2022
  

       ///it's probably a whole lot easier to engineer some host immune cells to react to a given marker// 2014   

       2017 Kymriah CAR-T is FDA approved, I'm in the wrong gig. If someone could take care of all the tedious analysis and bench work, I could devote more time to the ideas game.
bs0u0155, Mar 23 2022
  

       // 2017 Kymriah CAR-T is FDA approved //   

       The list of side effects mirrors the dangers of early retirement...
4and20, Mar 23 2022
  

       //The list of side effects mirrors the dangers of early retirement...//   

       Oh it's viscous. You're weaponizing your immune system against yourself, your immune system will take out all cells presenting the target antigens, which is supposed to be the cancer cells, but it's not as specific as you'd like.   

       It makes no sense, except in the context of all the other cancer therapies: cut/burn it out & poison. I recommend Azra Raza on "The Drive" podcast E121, for a brutal assessment of the current state of all things cancer.   

       I'm not abreast of the immunooncology world, but I imagine they're looking at immunotherapy with an "off" switch.
bs0u0155, Mar 23 2022
  
      
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