--- description: Through a technique known as adopted cell therapy, doctors replicated a woman's own immune cells in the lab, then released them into her bloodstream. The tumors began melting away title: Immune Cells Used to Shrink Cancer Tumors image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Cancer](/tag/cancer/) ## Cancer Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Scientists Use Patient's Immune System to Kick Cancer by [Alexis Hauk](/author/alexis-hauk/) ## Alexis Hauk Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 9, 2014 1:07 AM CUT by [Alexis Hauk](/author/alexis-hauk/) ## Alexis Hauk Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 9, 2014 1:07 AM CUT Scientists are making strides in a new cancer treatment that manipulates patients’ immune systems into going to war with malignant growths. The therapy, which could apply to a wide range of cancers, offers a silver lining for patients who have been diagnosed with melanomas in the the lungs, bladder and gastrointestinal tract. In a study recently published in [Science](http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2014/nci-08.htm "undefined") by the National Cancer Institute, under the National Institutes of Health, doctors “sequenced the genome” of a 43-year-old woman named Melinda Bachini, who had been struggling with a type of cancer that had not responded to chemotherapy, the [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/health/doctors-use-patients-immune-cells-to-shrink-cancer-tumors.html?hpw&rref=health "undefined") reported. Through what is called “adopted cell therapy,” Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg and colleagues involved in authoring the study “identified cells from her immune system that attacked a specific mutation in the malignant cells. Then they grew those immune cells in the laboratory and infused billions of them back into her bloodstream,” said the Times. Rosenberg told the _Times_ that through the process, the tumors began “melting away.” He added, “It’s the first time we have been able to actually target a specific mutation in the immune system,” Rosenberg told [NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/new-immune-therapy-approach-tackles-womans-rare-cancer-n100811 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/93440/scientists-use-patients-immune-system-to-kick-cancer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/93440/scientists-use-patients-immune-system-to-kick-cancer/"},"headline":"Scientists Use Patient's Immune System to Kick Cancer","datePublished":"2014-05-09T01:07:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:44:46.281Z","description":"Through a technique known as adopted cell therapy, doctors replicated a woman's own immune cells in the lab, then released them into her bloodstream. The tumors began melting away","url":"https://time.com/93440/scientists-use-patients-immune-system-to-kick-cancer/","keywords":["Cancer","immune system"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexis Hauk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexis-hauk/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/93440/scientists-use-patients-immune-system-to-kick-cancer/","name":"Scientists Use Patient's Immune System to Kick Cancer"}}]}] ```