Salmonella Aids in Cancer Fight, Research Finds

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have identified salmonella as a possible means of fighting cancer, a specialist said Tuesday.

Yale cancer biologist Dr. John Pawelek said his team had genetically altered salmonella, a food-poisoning bacterium, to seek out and destroy tumors in mice. The bacterium used was rendered harmless.

Yale has licensed a New Haven-based company, Vion Pharmaceuticals, to develop a clinical product. Vion said in a statement Monday that it anticipated clinical trials in humans by the middle of next year.

Pawelek said the salmonella treatment was promising because it worked like a seek-and-destroy missile against tumors.

“In our opinion, it’s revolutionary . . . “ Pawelek said.

“It’s a vector that travels from distant sites to tumors. If you introduce it into the bloodstream of a mouse that bears tumors at multiple sites in its body, the salmonella will seek them out.”

The treatment was also found to prevent the growth of tumors, Pawelek said.