Scientific discovery is sometimes a mix of intelligence and a stroke of pure luck. When Stanford scientists studying a particular aggressive type of cancer (B-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma with a mutation in the Philadelphia chromosome) attempted to keep the cancer cells alive, they did not expect to find a potential cure in the transcription factors (DNA binding proteins that influence cell activity) inside the culture media (food for cultured cells) used to keep the cells alive. This particular type of lymphoma used to be a functional immune stem cell (these stem cells gave rise to immune cells), but because of an accumulation of mutations in cell DNA, the immune stem cells became stuck in an immature and defective state, causing them to become cancerous.
Image Source: Jonathan Pow
After culturing the lymphoma cells in various types of media with different types of transcription factors, they were surprised to find that the cancerous cells were replaced by non-replicating stable immune cells called macrophages. After much investigation, the scientists later realized that the cause of the transformation was the exposure to a specific set of transcription factors (undisclosed in the study). Thus, the exposure of the lymphoma to the special set of transcription factors overrode the cancerous mutations and caused the cells to grow into safe adult immune cells without the ability to divide rapidly. In addition, the new immune cells actually helped fight off the mutated lymphoma cells because they originated from the foreign lymphomas themselves, so they had a much higher likelihood of recognition against the existing cancer cells.
At the moment the research goal is to discover or create a drug that has the same effect on the lymphoma cells as the the specific transcription factors. If successful, the same result may be achieved and force the lymphoma to turn into little cancer-fighting macrophages that fight off the very same cancer cells!
