Researchers have developed a means to specifically identify and target tumor cells using specialized immune cells called T-cells, as well as antigens, that flag the earliest mutations of tumor cells.
Genetic mutations of tumors become more diverse as tumors develop, but many of these early mutations are flagged by antigens, researchers found, providing scientists with a means to target these tumor cells. While antigens can be identified and destroyed by the immune system’s T-cells, these specialized, potent cells are inactivated by the tumor’s defense mechanism. The findings lay the groundwork for potential therapies that involve T-cells’ re-activation or the harvesting and administering of T-cells into the patient.
Though the body’s immune system is built to fight abnormal developments and mutated cells like tumors, the increasing genetic diversity of a growing tumor makes it extremely difficult for the immune system to suppress cancer.
“The body’s immune system acts as the police trying to tackle cancer, the criminals. Genetically diverse tumors are like a gang of hoodlums involved in different crimes — from robbery to smuggling. And the immune system struggles to keep on top of the cancer — just as it’s difficult for police when there’s so much going on,” Sergio Quezada, co-author of the study, told Cancer Research UK, a cancer research and awareness organization.
By discovering that antigens can mark many of these early genetic mutations, scientists can give the immune system a leg up in attacking cancer cells.
“Our research shows that instead of aimlessly chasing crimes in different neighborhoods, we can give the police the information they need to get to the kingpin at the root of all organized crime — or the weak spot in a patient’s tumor — to wipe out the problem for good,” Quezada said.
This research opens up many opportunities for therapies to be developed specifically for different patients, potentially personalizing medicine. In the future, each patient could undergo immunotherapy that targets his or her specific cancer cells.
The research also sheds light on why particular patients respond better to immunotherapy than others. In the end, these findings not only create the potential for better cancer therapy, but also add to our growing knowledge of cancer development and the role that the immune system plays in it.
