Chinese and European medical institutions have launched a joint project to study cancer immunotherapy, the use of the immune system to eradicate cancer.
The treatment, which stimulates the immune system to attack cancerous cells, has drawn widespread global attention over the past two decades but has achieved limited clinical success.
The four-year project involves six cancer and immune-related research topics, and will receive Euro2 million (HK$21 million) in funding from the European Commission.
As part of the project, the Shanghai-based Immunocan institute, co-founded by the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre and France's Institut Merieux laboratory in 2010, will be collaborating with the University of Copenhagen, Hannover Medical School, and Italy's Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Dei Tumori.
Researchers will study the immune systems of cancer patients, the risk of recurrence, the efficacy of drugs, and patients' reactions to cancer treatments, says Dr Wu Jiong, deputy director of the Shanghai Cancer Centre.
'In previous days when we studied tumour cells, we focused on how fast these cells grew, how malignant they were and what affects drugs had on them,' Wu, a leading breast cancer specialist, said.
'But tumour cells are in our bodies and our bodies will definitely respond towards them and there is an immune reaction.'