Tumors Disguised as Pork: A Novel Immunotherapy Approach from Chinese Researchers

Li Tianyi

14 Apr 2025 — 1 min read

According to World Health Organization (WHO), there are a total of 9,743,832 deaths caused by cancer in 2022. Recently, a group of researchers in China have developed a pioneering cancer treatment that alters the tumor to resemble pork, triggering the body immune system to attack the tumour cells.

This study is led by Professor Zhao Yongxiang, director of the State Key Laboratory of Targeting Oncology at Guangxi Medical University. In their study published on Cell, they engineered a virus that tricked the human body into believing that cancer cells were pig tissue, hence triggers a hyperacute inflammatory response. The virus then attack the cancer cells with a surprisingly high success rate of 90%.

This innovative new pathway offers the potential to defeat cancer and save millions of people from hat has long been considered an incurable disease.

Reference

Mocerino, Maria. “New Cancer Cure “Disguises” Tumors as Pork to Trigger Immune Attack.” Interesting Engineering, 17 Mar. 2025, interestingengineering.com/health/new-cancer-therapy-disguises-tumors-as-pork-to-trigger-immune-attack-90-effective. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.

Zhong, Liping, et al. “Hyperacute Rejection-Engineered Oncolytic Virus for Interventional Clinical Trial in Refractory Cancer Patients.” Cell, Jan. 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.12.010.

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