In a new study, experts have been able to see a silver lining linked to coronavirus. A group of experts at Dalhousie University along with their colleagues in the US, Denmark, France, Germany, and India has been examining the immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Experts have claimed that such an immune response can be remodeled to fight against cancer with the help of the immune system. The SARS-CoV-2 is the virus, which causes COVID19 infection. As per the report, the immune system of the body identifies viruses and bacteria as threats and protects the body, however it does not happen in the case of cancer.
The author of the study has said that coronavirus can be used as the next generation of cancer immunotherapy. Scientists have said that they need to trick the coronavirus specific T-cells to treat cancer as if it is infected with the virus. However, it will be possible by actually causing the infection or without using the virus, said the author of the study. When a person is exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, T-cells present in the immune system starts acting in a specific way to kill the virus from the cells, which have been infected. Many scientists who are developing the vaccine for COVID19, have revealed a similar ability to activate coronavirus specific T-cells. This report has been published in the journal of OncoImmunology.
Experts claim that after the COVID19 infection, memory cells remain in the body. Memory cells work as an alarm for the immune system to identify and produce antibodies to kill the virus if it infects the body again. T-cells can look for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and eliminate it from the region where it replicates itself. It also helps the body to recover from the infection. Experts have been trying to trick the T-cells to attack the tumor by enabling cancer cells to show the same identifying markers as coronavirus infected cells. That is how these cancer cells become the target of COVID19 fighting T-cells. Experts have said that it will be a practical approach to strap up the virus-specific T-cells against many types of cancer. Coronavirus specific T-cells can be discovered in millions of people due to the vast spread of the infection. Experts claim that developing cancer immunotherapy using such T-cells will be quite helpful for the world population.
