Tailor-made antibodies can dramatically reverse spreading melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, when injected directly into the tumors, researchers say.
The work, though still in preliminary stages, suggests it may be possible to stop the disease by harnessing the body's own built-in defenses.Antibodies are among the body's principal weapons for fighting off a variety of foreign invaders. In this case, scientists crafted human antibodies in the test tube that were specifically targeted against the cancer. Then they injected them into cancerous growths on victims' skin.
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"The lesions dry up and regress," said Dr. Donald Morton, of the John Wayne Surgical Oncology Clinic at the University of California, Los Angeles.