[Debbie L.]

I am actually very hopeful about the possibility that the immune system can (eventually) be used to stop cancer. But I think this particular idea is not anything to get excited about, at least not yet.

For one thing, it's only been studied in mice. There are experts who believe mice are essentially useless (or worse) when trying to tease out immune responses to cancer. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/sc...says.html?_r=0

And secondly, this bit is rather alarming:

"One side effect of the treatment was that healthy cells were subjected to short-term attacks by the mice's immune system, but the effect was nothing in comparison to the damage done to the cancer cells"

We would not want to eradicate the cancer only to leave someone suffering from an autoimmune disease. There would have to be a LOT of safety investigation around that "short term" qualification.

Debbie Laxague