'Trojan Horse' Takes on Cancer

A cure for cancer may not be so far off. Reuters reports that a cancer therapy based on "nano cells" and developed by Australian scientists has achieved a 100 percent survival rate in mice with human cancer cells over the past two years. The problem with traditional chemotherapy is that it targets healthy and cancerous cells, and that some cancerous cells can become resistant to the therapy over time. The Australians' new treatment works around that weakness using bacterially-derived nano cells. An initial wave of nano cells enters cancer cells and releases molecules that turn off the cell's production of proteins that make the cell resistant to chemotherapy. A second wave of nano cells then enter the cancerous cells and releases chemotherapy drugs, which kill the cells. The scientists plan to start human clinical trials in the coming months.