Results of a long-term clinical trial carried out by a team of researchers at Houston Methodist Hospital revealed that radiation treatment if given along with suicide gene therapy can help to fight prostate cancer.

This new technique got its name ‘suicide gene therapy’, as it causes the tumor cells in the body to self-destruct. The research showed that the patients had 20% improvement in survival with prostate cancer five years after treatment.

According to a cancer expert, before coming to any conclusion, some more and deep research is required. Prostate cancer is the most commonly found cancer in men. In the United Kingdom alone, around 41,000 individuals every year are diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The study showed that the new gene therapy when combined with radiotherapy can yield promising outcomes promising treatment for prostate cancer in the future. The technique involves the cancer cells being genetically modified so that they signal a patient’s immune system to attack them. The researchers said usually a body does not recognize cancer cells as the enemy because they have evolved from normal healthy cells.

When the researchers used a virus to carry the gene therapy into the tumor cells, the results showed that the cells self-destructed, alerting the patient's immune system that it is time to launch a massive attack.

According to the researchers, the survival rates after five years were 97% and 94%. As there was no control group in the study, the researchers said the results showed a five to 20% improvement on previous studies of prostate cancer treatment.