Fish could be the answer to 'personalised' cancer treatments, say scientists

A new five-year research trial is about to begin, which hopes to revolutionise the way cancer treatment is personalised.

As of right now, it's often the case that patients have to go through a number of different treatments (whether chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or something entirely different), before finding one that works for their condition.

The trial, which is being held in Portugal by the Champalimaud Foundation, will see drugs that have been tested previously in zebrafish embryos implanted with the patients’ cancer cells.

Embryos of zebrafish live on the outside of their body, making it easier to see.

By testing the treatments in the water of the fish, they can then asses the impact of them on the fluorescently-tagged tumours, before deciding whether that particular treatment could have a similar effect in the human.

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This isn't the first time fish have helped with potential cancer breakthroughs either.

The same foundation conducted a different trial in 2017, that saw them put fish on the same type of chemotherapy that 55 patients would receive. For 50 of the patients, the fish "predicted" the treatment's outcome.

“Everybody is looking for something that is more predictive of how therapies will affect patients’ tumours", stem cell biologist Leonard Zon of Harvard Medical School told Science.

Unfortunately, we won't know the results of this study until 2030, but if proven successful, it could be the start of a huge breakthrough for cancer patients.

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