'Huge' Breakthrough for Cancer Cure

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania are touting a “huge” breakthrough toward a cancer cure after they were able to eradicate leukemia in two of three patients in a clinical trial. The scientists modified T cells to attack the leukemia cells—and researchers hope that the method could work for other types of cancer as well, including breast and colon. They achieved the breakthrough by making a virus that infects T cells and directs them to destroy the leukemia cells. "This is a huge accomplishment—huge," said one Harvard Medical School dean.