Liv Tone Gulseth lost her son Viktor to cancer in February. Photo: Line Møller/VG
Before he died, Victor (20) asked his mother to collect money for one particular Norwegian cancer research. The treatment, which he never got to try himself, goes to precision warfare against the cancer cells in a terminally ill body.
Published:
Less than 10 minutes ago
- 20-year-old Victor Dyreng asked his mother to raise money for cancer research before he died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in February 2023.
- The mother is now collecting money for the research of Professor Johanna Olweus at the Section for Cancer Immunology at Oslo University Hospital.
- Olweus is working on a new type of immunotherapy where immune cells are equipped with “heat-seeking missiles” to find and kill cancer cells. The researchers hope to test the treatment on humans within the next year.
Sea view
– He sits on my shoulder, says mum Liv Tone Gulseth on the way up to the Blood Diseases Department at Rikshospitalet.
For a year and a half, her son was treated here, before he died on February 8 this year.
– We often talk about Victor here in the department, so he sits on our shoulder as well, says Hilde Skuterud Wik.
The superior tells about the conversation she had with Victor on one of the last days he was here. When she had to tell him all hope was lost.
– We had reached a situation where we had no more treatment to offer. We had tried everything and been in contact with therapists all over the world, says Wik to VG.
Senior doctor Hilde Skuterud Wik together with Victor’s mother Liv Tone Gulseth. Photo: Line Møller/VG
“Too early”
Before 20-year-old Victor Emanuel Dyreng fell asleep, he gave his mother a task: Make sure to raise money for Johanna Olweus’ research, so that as few as possible will die from the cancer acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)Acute lymphatic/ lymphoblastic leukemia is a blood cancer in which a specific type of white blood cell, the lymphocytes, multiplies unhindered. As a result, the number of red blood cells, normal white blood cells and platelets will decrease.
Professor Olweus is head of the Section for Cancer Immunology at the Institute for Cancer Research at the Cancer Clinic at Oslo University Hospital.
The treatment she has been researching for years could be a hope for Victor. But he was “too early”.
Although the researchers have come a long way in developing the recipe for the new treatment, the path from the laboratory to the patient is long, tortuous and expensive.
Johanna Olweus uses war metaphors when explaining the treatment method she is developing:
– We want to go to precision warfare against the cancer cells, so that we only hit the sick cancer cells and not the normal cells.
Professor Johanna Olweus at Oslo University Hospital. Photo: Line Møller/VG
“Heat-seeking missiles”
The most effective method of curing cancer today is surgery. But if the cancer cells have spread via the blood and lymph to areas far from the organ where the cancer first arose, and are infiltrating vital organs, surgery is often impossible.
– The form of treatment we are developing can be compared to surgery on a single-cell level – cancer cells that are surrounded by normal cells can be killed without damaging the neighboring cells, Olweus tells VG.
The treatment will be a new form of immunotherapy, where immune cells are equipped with what Olweus calls “heat-seeking missiles” – that is, immune receptorsimmune receptorsIn the immune system, there are B-cell, T-cell receptors, and toll-like receptors that recognize molecules from foreign substances and pathogens and provides protection against disease..
A therapy gene is inserted into immune cells harvested from the patient’s blood in the laboratory, and this gives the cells a new property: a new immune receptor on the cell surface.
This immune receptor “programs” the immune cells to find a specific target on the cancer cells. The immune cells patrol the entire body via the blood circulation and can thus find the cancer cells wherever they happen to be – and kill them.
– This treatment will be able to hit targets inside the cancer cell, and not just targets that sit on the outside of the cancer cell, as this type of immunotherapy does today, explains Olweus.
Photo: Line Møller/VG
Norwegian “cell factory”
Time is of the essence for the sickest patients, says Olweus.
She therefore decided to try to establish a “cell factory” in Norway – ACT – Center for advanced cell and gene therapy.
– I was lucky enough to come into contact with a private donor community who were enthusiastic about the idea. They have committed to a donation of NOK 50 million over five years, says Olweus.
The donors are the Svanhild and Arne Musts Foundation for Medical Research, together with the Cancer Society and the Radium Hospital’s research foundation. The funds go to personnel and equipment, so that the production of genetically modified cells can be done at Oslo University Hospital.
– But it takes time and is demanding to put in place, says Olweus.
Cancer researcher Johanna Olweus and Victor’s doctor Hilde Skuterud Wik. Photo: Line Møller/VG
Mice recovered
So far, the treatment has been tested on mice that were injected with cancer cells from patients.
– Within 14 days, the mice were cured, and the results attracted international attention, Olweus points out.
The article was published in the prestigious Nature Biotechnology in 2022.
– We have come as far as we can before testing on humans. Over a two-year period, we have also established the recipe for how the immune cells can be genetically modified, she explains.
During the next year, Olweus hopes to get approval from the Norwegian Medicines Agency, so that they can start testing the first patients from Norway and the Nordic countries.
– Victor’s story makes me very impatient to find better treatments, says Olweus.
Hilde Skuterud Wik, Liv Tone Gulseth and Johanna Olweus met VG at Rikshospitalet. Photo: Line Møller/VG
Memorial in son’s name
After her son died, four young people whom Liv Tone Gulseth has become acquainted with have lost their lives to the same disease. It motivates her to follow through on the promise she made to Victor.
– This autumn I worked on creating content for the website of Victor Dyreng’s foundation. It’s been really tough, but it’s also exposure therapy for me. All income for the foundation will go to Johanna Olweus’ research, she says.
Johanna Olweus says that she receives many emails from desperate patients.
– My motivation is to save lives. The new concepts that we and other researchers develop must not remain in a desk drawer. Private donations provide important subsidies to the public sector, she emphasizes.
– That Victor wanted to collect money for our work is a huge commitment and a great inspiration and motivation for me as a researcher.
Published:
Published: 30.12.23 at 17:56
2023-12-30 16:56:54
#war #cancer #sons
