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According to new research in cell, chemicals that attract specialised immune cells toward tumours could be used to develop better immunotherapies for cancer patients Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have discovered that immune cells called Natural Killer cells accumulate in tumours and release chemicals that attract specialised dendritic cells (cDC1)-white blood cells known for triggering anti-cancer immune responses to the tumour.
Genes associated with Natural Killer cells and cDC1 correlated with cancer patient survival in a dataset of over 2,500 patients with skin, breast, neck and lung cancers. A similar correlation was seen in an independent group of breast cancer patients, with a particularly positive outcome for women with triple negative breast cancer, which typically has a poor prognosis. The findings have given a renewed appreciation of the importance of Natural Killer cells and cDC1 in the immune response against cancer.
The team showed that prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a molecule produced by some cancer cells, suppresses Natural Killer cell activity and reduces the responsiveness of cDC1 to the chemical attractants. This suggests that blocking PGE2 with aspirin might help boost the effectiveness of immunotherapies by restoring cDC1 levels in tumours. The research reveals more about the way the body’s immune system interacts with cancer, exposing one way in which cancer can avoid attack. It highlight the complexity of this relationship and reveal another way in which the immune system can be harnessed to treat cancer.
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