An international team of researchers from Israel, the US, and China has developed a genetic method to reprogramme a type of immune cell, turning them from cancer promoters to inhibitors. 

The team, led by Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, focused on macrophages -- a type of immune cell that can induce immune responses. But in many cancers, macrophages become allies that protect the tumour, help it grow, and even aid in spreading it to other tissues, Xinhua news agency reported.