In a novel experiment, a woman with advanced pancreatic cancer saw her tumors dramatically shrink after researchers in Oregon turbocharged her own immune cells, highlighting a possible new way to someday treat a variety of cancers. Kathy Wilkes isn’t cured but said what’s left of her cancer has shown no sign of growth since the one-time treatment last June. “I knew that regular chemotherapy would not save my life and I was going for the save,” said Wilkes, of Ormond Beach, Florida, who tracked down a scientist thousands of miles away and asked that he attempt the experiment. The research, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, explores a new method of harnessing the immune system to create “living drugs” able to seek and destroy tumors. “It’s really exciting.