A new antibody injection could 'wipe out advanced cancer ' by rooting out and obliterating tumours , scientists have revealed . The research has been hailed a 'tour de force ' , raising hopes the body 's immune system could be trained to attack melanoma , pancreatic , breast and lung cancer . The team at Stanford University School of Medicine believe the laboratory-engineered antibodies could eradicate not only primary tumours , but also distant metastases that have spread through the body . Professor Edgar Engleman , senior author of the study , said : 'The potency is impressive . 'You actually see tumour eradication . ' A new study has suggested an antibody injection could 'wipe out cancer ' by rooting out and eradicating both primary tumours and distant metastases , where the cancer has spread to other parts of the body . Their findings have been hailed a 'tour de force ' , raising hopes the body 's immune system could be trained to attack melanoma , pancreatic , lung and breast cancer , pictured . His team concluded their approach differed to other potential treatments that only apply to specific cancers , in that it could target a wide range of solid tumours . The process relies on the same mechanism as that which causes animals ' bodies to reject organ transplants , researchers said . In both cases , antibodies - molecules that detect foreign substances in the body - trigger the immune system . They bind themselves to proteins from the foreign tissue - in this case the tumour - and through the use of signalling cells , alert T-cells , that act like the immune 's system 's SWAT team . When the T-cells come into contact with the 'unwelcome ' tissue , they attack and destroy it . Researchers isolated the antibodies from mice that were found to be resistant to the cancers . They then injected these antibodies , along with chemicals that activated signalling cells , known as dendritic cells , into cancerous mice . The mice mounted an immune response and were found to remain cancer-free for more than a year . Once primed to recognise the cancerous tissue , the T-cells would multiply and not only attack the tumour , but hunt down any metastatic cells travelling through the body . The team concluded their approach differed to other potential treatments that only apply to specific cancers , in that it could target a wide range of solid tumours , including melanoma , pictured . Dr Yaron Carmi , the lead author , discovered both antibodies and the signalling , dendritic cells are both crucial for tumour elimination . 'Within hours after injection , these tumour cells are already coated with antibodies , ' he said . He added when the team disabled the antibodies ' ability to bind to the tumours , or the dendritic cells ' ability to ingest the tumours , the T-cells failed to eradicate the cancer . 'T-cells contain the bullets , but in our system , the antibodies start the whole thing off , ' Professor Engleman , said . By adding chemicals that encouraged the growth of the signalling , dendritic cells , to the antibodies , the researchers were able to eliminate six different types of cancer - two melanomas , lymphoma , breast , lung and pancreatic cancer . 'Dr Carmi was able to show that this combination therapy was extraordinary powerful , ' said Professor Engleman . 'Pretty much we could eliminate any cancer . ' While the researchers tested their process in mice , they said in vitro work with human cancer cells indicates a similar immune-cell response . To confirm that , blood plasma from 10 healthy donors was pooled to collect antibodies against four cancers from patients : two lung and two mesothelioma cancers . The antibodies with the stimulation factors were able to activate the two lung cancer patients ' dendritic cells in vitro . The process relies on the same mechanism as that which causes animals ' bodies to reject organ transplants , researchers said.In both cases , antibodies - molecules that detect foreign substances in the body ( computer generated image , pictured ) - trigger the immune system . With the cells from the two mesothelioma cancer patients , the antibodies induced T-cell proliferation in vitro under the same experimental conditions . Medical oncologist assistant professor Holbrook Kohrt at Stanford , who was not involved with the study , called the paper ' a nice tour de force ' and believes the novel therapeutic strategy could utilise the patient 's own immune system to defend against certain cancers . He oversees numerous clinical trials involving immunotherapy for cancer patients and thinks an important aspect of the technique is its potential to fight different tumour types . He added that given the chemicals used have already been used in other clinical trials , developing them into a therapeutic drug should be 'fairly straightforward ' . ' I honestly think the most important thing is to see if we can bring this new approach into the clinic , ' said Professor Engleman . 'That 's where we want to go . ' The study was published in the journal Nature .
Study at Stanford University has been hailed a ' tour de force ' Raises hopes the animal 's immune system could be trained to fight a range of cancers , including lung , pancreatic , breast and lung . Process relies on the same mechanism as that which causes animals ' bodies to reject organ donation . Expert said they are ' impressive ' , adding ' you see cancer eradication .