CANCER patients may be completely cured of their illness thanks to a never-before-used immune therapy, scientists claim.
Lab experts say the treatment could be tested on patients next year in the hope it will place them in "complete remission".
Chief executive of biotech company LIfT Biosciences, Alex Blyth, also said his team were hoping to create the world's first "bank" of cancer-killing cells.
He said: "We're not talking about simply managing cancer. We're looking at a curative therapy that you would receive once a week over the course of five to six weeks.
"Based on our laboratory and mouse model experiments we would hope to see patients experiencing complete remission.
"Our ultimate aim is to create the world's first cell bank of immensely powerful cancer-killing neutrophils."
Scientists say they found a way to screen cancer-killing immune cells from donor blood before multiplying them by a million.
The neutrophil cells form a part of the body's first line of defence against foreign invaders – also known as the innate immune system.
They are believed to be the reason rare individuals will spontaneously shrug off potent cancers in cases described as a "miracle recovery".
And trials for the new therapy could be underway as early as next year thanks to LIfT working with researchers from King's College London.
Professor Farzin Farzaneh, leading the research at King's College, said: "I was initially sceptical about this when LIfT Biosciences approached us.
"It is something that I don't believe has been done before, and producing these specific cells with cancer-killing ability is a notion we had not thought of before.
"We are excited by these early results."
The team will focus on pancreatic cancer, which killed Mr Blyth's mum Margaret in 2014, and is one of the most lethal solid cancers.
Mr Blyth adds neutrophils can be given to anyone without fear of serious rejection.
There is evidence they can often become "blind" to cancer, however when they do target it they do so by wiping out 95% of test cancer cells in 24 hours.
LIfT's team has collected thousands of cells discarded as unwanted waste product by blood banks and is mass-screening them for their cancer-killing potential.
The trials, if they go ahead early next year, will involve a small number of 20 to 40 patients with pancreatic cancer.
