Scientists believe they have reached a breakthrough when it comes to treating and curing Tasmanian devils from devil facial tumour disease, which has decimated the marsupial's population in recent years.
The study has seen devils with tumours the size of golf balls on their face shrink and disappear as scientists experimented with an aggressive treatment.
Menzies Devil Facial Tumour Disease Team leader Greg Woods told News Corp Australia it was evidence that diseased devils could be cured.
"This is the first time we have seen a cure," Professor Woods said.
The discovery is great news for the unique Tasmanian species, which has suffered a drop in numbers from 150,000 in the wild to just 30,000 since the contagious disease took hold in the past 20 years.
The treatment that triggered the response was immunotherapy that involved injecting diseased devils with specially treated live DFTD cells, which prompted a rise in antibody levels that fought the disease.
"This is almost a eureka moment for us because it's the first time we can say for sure that it was the immunotherapy that was making the tumour shrink," Professor Woods said.
"We had to turn on the devils' own immune system."
The devils were not only able to combat the newly injected live cancer cells, but also their original tumours.
Five devils underwent the treatment as part of research in Hobart over the past five years with three of them enjoying a full recovery.
Only 10 per cent of devils have been able to fight the disease to the point of cure in the wild.
