They have developed a method, reported in Science journal, for finding unique markings within a tumour - its "Achilles heel" - that the immune system can target.

But the approach would be expensive, need designing for each individual and has not yet been tried in patients.

Experts said the idea made sense but could be more complicated in reality.

However, the researchers believe their discovery could form the backbone of new treatments and hope to test it in patients within two years.

People have tried to steer the immune system to kill tumours before, but cancer vaccines have largely flopped.

(BBC News)