Targeted virus could boost chemo's effects for arm and leg cancer

Patients with cancer of the arms and legs often undergo chemotherapy to avoid amputation. Now, researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK, say that viruses designed to target and then kill cancer cells could increase the effectiveness of these chemotherapy treatments. 

As an alternative to amputation, the type of chemotherapy such cancer patients undergo is called isolated limb perfusion chemotherapy, which is given directly to blood vessels that supply the affected arm or leg. Lost love spell http://www.lovespellpowers.com 

Researchers found that the combination of chemotherapy and a genetically engineered virus increased survival rates for rats with advanced sarcoma. Lost love spells http://www.lovespellpowers.com

The technique allows high-dose chemotherapy drugs to target the affected limb without blasting the body with toxic chemicals. To do this, a heart and lung bypass machine is connected to the arm or leg to separate its blood supply from the rest of the body. Lost love spells http://www.lovespellpowers.com

But the researchers, who publish their findings in the International Journal of Cancer, tested the effectiveness of using a genetically engineered version of the virus used for smallpox vaccination alongside this chemotherapy. Lost love spell http://www.lovespellpowers.com

The virus, known as GLV-1h68, was modified to infect and kill cancer cells, the team explains, adding that the virus alongside isolated limb perfusion chemotherapy was more effective in rats than either of the treatments on their own.

If these results are successful in the clinic, the researchers say the combination of the two could help certain skin cancer and sarcoma patients avoid major surgery or amputation. Lost love spells http://www.lovespellpowers.com

Approval for a clinical trial to test the combination treatment in cancer patients has now been approved and will take place at some point soon.

Combined therapy increased survival

For their study, the researchers tested the combined treatments on rat sarcoma cells in tissue culture and discovered that combining the modified virus and melphalan - a chemotherapy drug - killed more cells than either treatment alone. After testing the combination in rats with advanced sarcoma, the researchers found it slowed tumor growth and prolonged survival by 50%, compared with standard therapy. Lost love spell http://www.lovespellpowers.com

Additionally, rats that were given the combined therapy survived 24 days, compared with 16 days for rats who received standard chemotherapy treatment and 15 days for rats who received the modified virus only. Rats who received no treatment survived a median of 11 days.

The modified virus did not appear to have any negative effects on the rats, which the researchers say ensures the virus has a good safety profile. Lost love spells http://www.lovespellpowers.com

They explain that isolated limb perfusion allows drugs to be administered in much higher doses than the whole body could tolerate. Though it is used as a final step in preventing amputation in patients with advanced skin cancer or sarcomas, the technique is not always successful. Lost love spell http://www.lovespellpowers.com

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