It may have only been a small scientific trial but it’s yielded some pretty amazing results. Geek.com’s Matthew Humphries reports that a research team at the University of Pennsylvania “has been experimenting with using a harmless version of the HIV virus combined with genetically modified white blood cells as a new way to fight cancer.”

The cells are taken from the patient and modified to fight cancer cells—which they evidently do with abandon. They multiply in the body and killed all the cancer cells in two patients and 70 percent in another. “The equivalent of five pounds of cancer cells has disappeared from each patient,” researchers said. The modified cells also stay in the body and reactivate, killing new cancers cells as long as a year after they’re injected.

In an accompanying video, lead researcher Carl June, MD, says, “In our study it’s the first time we’ve shown that T-cells are what are called “serial killers.’ That’s that they can kill one tumor cell and then another and we found in all three of our patients that the T-cells killed at least a thousand tumor cells,” and that trial exceeded their wildest expectations.

The findings have been published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine. Results have been announced by the Abramson Cancer Center and by MSNBC.

It’s amazing that something like HIV can be turned around to do something good. Normally we’re not Pollyannas but between this and the study last month suggesting that taking HIV medication could increase protection against HIV, it’s just nice feeling like at least a few things are looking up. Way up.