Plastic surgeons in the US have discovered a new technique of reducing the volume of cancerous tumors using gene therapy, it has been revealed.
According to a study published in the latest issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, physicians were able to deliver cancer-fighting proteins via skin flaps, reducing the size of cancerous tumors on rats by 79 per cent.
Senior author of the report Geoffrey Gurtner commented: "This new technique may allow us to reprogram skin flaps, using gene therapy, to provide a blueprint for anti-tumor agents like Interleukin-12 to be produced in the tumor to kill cancer, while avoiding adverse side effects."
Experts say that although its use has been limited so far, gene therapy could serve as the latest tool to prevent tumor growth and recurrence in humans.
Dr Gurtner added: "This could be a major advance for the delivery of a therapeutic agent to diseased parts of the body."
He forecast that this method of gene therapy could be used in the treatment of breast cancer, head and neck cancers and possibly diabetes in future.
