by the Way . . .

Cancer has been cured in mice, and the biological process may apply to humans. Researchers at Wake Forest University have accidentally discovered a strain of mouse that is immune to cancer. Better yet, when the immune mouse’s white cells are injected into normal mice, it cures their cancer.

The researchers were injecting mice with a lethal strain of mouse cancer cells, when one mouse did not die. So they increased the dose, and still the mouse stayed healthy. Since they failed to kill the mouse, they decided to breed it to see if the trait would be inherited. In 2003 they reported in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the trait was inherited by all descendants. In a second paper just published, they reported that the colony is now 2,000 mice strong, all immune, and all with the trait that when their white blood cells are injected into normal mice with tumors, the tumors disappear.

Unfortunately, none of the mice have been shared with other groups because Wake Forest has not been able to reach agreements with other institutions on protecting its intellectual property. As a result, there has been no confirmation of the results by any outside group, and due to limited resources the specific gene involved has not been identified. Humans and mice have many of the same genes, and identification of that gene in humans may indicate humans possessing it are immune from cancer. If so, and if the injection of white blood cells from immune humans dissolves tumors in cancer patients, the long sought cure is at hand.

The intellectual property issues involve the potential claims to part of the pot that will be made by other scientists, institutions and drug companies who make contributions on the way to developing the cure. It is also not clear just how big the pot might be on this one. This is not one of those pills that cost little to manufacture and can be sold for a few hundred dollars a month to maybe or maybe not extend life. Here the threat of death is immediate, so thousands of dollars a shot is likely, more if the government pays for it for poor people. With billions potentially at stake, the legal issues have so far proved insurmountable.

It is not known when the legal breakthrough is likely to come. If you suspect you may have cancer, call your lawyer immediately.