Sperm Could Be Used to Fight Cancer in the Future

New and inventive ways to fight cancer are under development every day, and a group of German scientists have recently decided to test the cancer-fighting potential of human sperm cells.

According to Indy 100, it was hypothesized that sperm cells may be an invaluable aid in fighting certain types of cancer in the human female reproductive system. After all, a sperm cell's only job is to compete for a chance to fertilize an egg, making it a promising carrier for medicine that needs to be delivered to help treat cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers.

The actual testing of the theory involved loading the drug-bearing sperm into a four-armed structure that's lightly coated in iron. An external magnet is used to guide the structure within the female reproductive system and, upon reaching the tumor the sperm is released to deliver the medication.

Though the structure affected the sperm's movement speed, early statistics found higher efficacy in tumor cell killing within the first 48 hours of their delivery method than by traditional means. It's hoped this method can be used for cancer diagnosis and treatment.