Cancer breakthrough that allows doctors to transplant disease-fighting immune cells from strangers into patients could 'save millions of lives in the future'

A groundbreaking treatment for cancer which uses immune cells from strangers could save millions of lives in the future, scientists believe.

The treatment, still in its early days, will strengthen the immune systems of patients while avoiding toxic side effects such as those caused by chemotherapy, the Daily Mail reports, citing recent studies.

The team at the Francis Crick Institute in London now want to set-up the first immune banks which will store the “Natural Killer” cells. 

This would allow oncologists to order a batch of immune cells to be delivered to clinics in a matter of hours to then be infused into patients.

Once in the body the cells would join forces with the patient's own immune system to fight off tumours using a natural “DIY” approach.

Professor Adrian Hayday, group leader of the Immunosurveillance Lab at The Crick, told The Telegraph: “We're not quite there yet.

“But that's what we're trying now. There is every capability of getting cell banks like this established.”

Professor Hayday added that “even a few years ago” there was little belief cancer could be tackled in any other way than attacking the disease itself.

But now there is a growing field of research and experimental treatments focusing on training patients' bodies to fight off cancers by themselves.

Experts say this could become more effective than traditional treatments because bodies can adapt faster than medicine companies. 

Professor Hayday described the concept as 'radical' but added 'that is what's happening' now, with the cells not doing anything other than ramping up the immune system.

Cancer patients will begin to receive pioneering infusions of the so-called natural killer cells as early as next year, according to the researchers.

Professor Charlie Swanton, of Crick's Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory said: “The future is incredibly bright.”