In Medical Science |Gene therapy frees men of cancer

Two men have been cleared of deadly skin cancer using genetically modified versions of their own immune cells.

The US National Cancer Institute team in Bethesda has shown it can manipulate immune cells to attack breast, liver and lung cancers.

The men were two members of a group of 17 people with advanced melanoma who received the treatment, and the only members who were completely free of cancer 18 months later. Still, experts say the results are extremely exciting and proof that this new therapy can work.