Posted
Photo:
Three of five devils recovered from the tumour disease after live cancer cell injection. (Supplied: Save the Tasmanian Devil)
Scientists reveal they have for the first time
successfully treated Tasmanian devils suffering from the deadly devil
facial tumour disease.
The breakthrough is hoped to speed-up development of an effective vaccine, which can be administered to devils in the wild.The successful treatments have been made on captive animals, with scientists injecting live cancer cells into the infected devils to make their immune system recognise the disease and fight it off.
The international research, led by the University of Tasmania (UTAS), has been published in the scientific journal Scientific Report, and details the effective use of immunotherapy on the species.
Five devils with the disease were treated using the technique over six years, and three survived.
UTAS professor of immunology Professor Greg Woods likened it to "fighting cancer with cancer".
"We used the cancer cells, cultured them in a laboratory, and made them express genes that made them become visible to the devils' immune systems," he said.
Photo:
Five devils with the disease were treated using the technique over six years. (Supplied: Menzies Institute)
"The first devil we had, we tried a few things, the
tumour got bigger and then we got desperate, which is why we added the
live [cancer] cells."And when we saw the tumour get smaller, it was so exciting."
The devils have since died from natural causes, and for the past year scientists have collated the findings.
Since it was discovered more than 20 years ago, the disease has wreaked havoc in the wild, forcing the creation of an insurance population.
Photo:
The contagious facial tumour disease has decimated the wild population. (Supplied: Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water)
The breakthrough has been celebrated by those who work closely with Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial.Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary director Greg Irons said the largest carnivorous marsupial needed help to avoid extinction.
"To die of starvation from the tumours growing all over their faces is really quite a hideous thing to occur for them, and to see a number drop of somewhere between 85 and 95 per cent in the last 20 years is mammoth," he said.
Researchers aim for vaccine
Professor Woods hopes the research will help develop a more effective vaccine."The current immunisation process uses dead (tumour) cells, where as this one used live cells, so if we somehow get a combination of the two then we might have a better vaccine," he said.
Photo:
Healthy Tasmanian devils have been relocated around Australia to help save the species. (Supplied: Devil Ark)
Save the Tasmanian Devils program manager David Pemberton is overseeing a vaccine trial in the wild."Greg and his team have shown this immunisation technique can cause tumour regression," Dr Pemberton said.
"It's those sort of trials we need now to establish when to vaccinate, when to boost and how effective that will be in the wild."
A small number of devils have shown some resistance to the disease.
Mr Irons said the current breakthroughs should be viewed as a safety-net rather than a silver bullet.
"The ideal solution for devils is to fight the disease off themselves in the wild and recover on their own, but for that they may need assistance," he said.
"What is needed is an army of options in the background if they're required."
No comments:
Post a Comment