Researcher Inoculates Own Malignant Growth with Viruses Synthesized in the Lab
Croatian Virologist Beata Halassy Shares Unconventional Cancer Treatment Success
In an unprecedented move, a University of Zagreb researcher grew her own viruses to combat breast cancer, triggering a mix of controversy and admiration among her peers. The asset of this self-treatment experiment was initially denied by academic journals, citing ethics concerns with self-experimentation. However, the story was eventually published in the Vaccines journal this August.
Halassy, who had previously undergone a mastectomy, turned to oncolytic virotherapy in 2020 upon learning about her third breast cancer recurrence. This treatment method, which involves using viruses to stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells, is not yet approved for breast cancer treatment worldwide.
Despite the risks and uncertainties associated with this unconventional approach, Halassy decided to proceed with the help of a colleague. The colleague administered a combination of measles viruses typically used in childhood vaccines and a vesicular stomatitis virus, both known to target the desired cancer cell type.
As the two-month trial progressed, the tumor shrunk and separated from surrounding muscles and skin, allowing for successful surgical removal. Upon biopsy post-removal, Halassy and her colleagues confirmed that an immune response had been successfully elicited.
The croatian scientist has now been cancer-free for four years, but sharing her results with the world was no easy feat. Halassy attempted to publish her findings in various academic journals, only to be met with rejections due to ethics concerns about self-experimentation.
Jacob Sherkow, a law and medicine researcher from the University of Illinois-Champaign, explained that journals must strike a delicate balance between sharing the knowledge gained from controversial self-experiments without promoting them as first-line courses of action.
Self-experimentation in oncolytic virotherapy raises important ethical considerations, such as the risks and uncertainties, lack of standardization, informed consent, regulatory oversight, potential misuse, and public misconceptions. The lack of clear regulatory frameworks and the need for clinical trials to validate the safety and efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy under controlled conditions are key implications.
Science and medical-conditions intertwine in an extraordinary story as Croatian virologist Beata Halassy, having successfully treated her own breast cancer with an unconventional method of oncolytic virotherapy, is now calling for broader discussion and research in health-and-wellness regarding the potential of this treatment for cancer. Despite the ethical dilemmas and uncertainties surrounding self-experimentation, Halassy's cancer-free status for four years serves as a compelling argument for further investigation and regulatory considerations in the field of cancer treatment.
