In what may signal the start of a new era in cancer therapy, South Korean researchers at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) have come up with a way to reprogram cancer cells into normal, healthy cells using chemotherapy and radiation-free techniques. The discovery, published recently in Advanced Science, has left the worldwide medical fraternity stunned and has renewed hope for patients whose cancer treatments involve gruelling chemotherapies.
Turning cancer cells good? Scientists say it’s now possible
Classic cancer therapies usually carry agonising side effects and destruction of adjacent normal tissues. Chemotherapy and radiation aim to destroy cancer cells, but they’re brutal and can sap the body’s strength. What is most revolutionary about this new technique is that it doesn’t kill cancer cells; it reprograms them.Using a computer system named BENEIN (Boolean Network Inference), the KAIST researchers were able to map the genetic circuitry of colon cancer cells and essentially “reprogram” them to act like normal cells.
BENEIN: The AI-powered tool that reprogrammed cancer cells to normal cells
BENEIN functions by studying how genes communicate with each other within cancer cells. Once it knows the network, it selects the most influential genes that regulate the identity of the cell. In this situation, the researchers established that silencing three particular genes – MYB, HDAC2, and FOXA2 was sufficient to revert the cancerous nature of the cells.What’s more astonishing is that the technique worked in both animal models and lab-grown cells. The cells of colon cancer treated with this procedure began to exhibit normal differentiation, and tumours significantly reduced in size when they were tested in mice.
Chemotherapy and radiation
Real signs of recovery: What the lab tests showed
Not only did the research team observe changes in cell behaviour, but they also followed them down to the molecular level. The cancer cells treated with HDACi started expressing markers characteristic of healthy intestinal cells, including KRT20 and VDR, and turning off cancer-initiating pathways like MYC and WNT.The gene expression of the re-converted cells closely resembled healthy tissue samples included in The Cancer Genome Atlas, further validating the results.
Could this become a universal cancer treatment ?
Although the advance is focused on colorectal cancer, the potential is far greater than one disease. Because BENEIN is an AI and gene network-based approach, in principle, it is possible to use it against other cancers. But the researchers are warning against overconfidence and caution that additional testing is required before bringing the technique to human clinical trials.Nevertheless, the thought of reprogramming cancer cells rather than killing them is providing entirely new horizons for safer, more personalised treatment.
What’s next for cancer research ?
The study has already positioned KAIST’s team at the forefront of non-toxic cancer therapy research. Experts believe that this approach could eventually reduce dependence on chemo and radiation, especially in early-stage cancers. If future clinical trials prove successful, this could be one of the biggest shifts in oncology in decades.
