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CANCER CARE UPDATE: IMPROVING IMMUNOTHERAPY

Originally published Jun 2020

BY JULIA EVANGELOU STRAIT

In recent years, cancer immunotherapy drugs have revolutionized the treatment of certain cancers, such as lymphoma, lung cancer and melanoma. This kind of treatment works by triggering the body’s immune system to attack tumors. Some people respond well to immunotherapy drugs, while others don’t respond at all. Cancer immunologists want to change that.

T CELLS INFILTRATING A MOUSE TUMOR
T CELLS (BLUE) CAN BE SEEN INFILTRATING A MOUSE TUMOR, ALONG WITH OTHER IMMUNE CELLS (IN GREEN, PURPLE AND YELLOW). RESEARCHERS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT BOTH KILLER AND HELPER T CELLS ARE NEEDED FOR TUMORS TO BE REJECTED DURING CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY.
Photo by R. Medrano, B. Zinselmeyer, B. Saunders

A new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine indicates a way for cancer immunotherapy to spur a more robust immune response. Such knowledge could lead to the development of better cancer vaccines and more effective immunotherapy drugs called checkpoint inhibitors.

“Immunotherapy presents tremendous promise for cancer treatment, but we haven’t yet found a way to make it widely effective,” says the study’s senior author Robert Schreiber, PhD, immunologist and researcher at the School of Medicine. “It still doesn’t work for many patients, particularly for common cancers, such as breast or prostate. We want to understand why they are ineffective in these cases so we can make better therapies. Our research suggests that immunotherapy is likely to be more effective when a vaccine is used alongside checkpoint inhibitors.”

Much immunotherapy for cancer is designed to prompt immune cells called killer T cells to attack cancer cells. But this new research suggests recruiting additional T cells—called helper T cells—could boost the effectiveness of immune therapy. Helper T cells are involved in recognizing cancer as a threat and recruiting killer T cells to mount an attack. Without the helper cells, the immune system typically doesn’t fully respond to fight cancer.

“This study reveals for the first time that helper T cells are essential in cancer immunotherapy,” says Schreiber, who directs Washington University’s Bursky Center for Human Immunology & Immunotherapy Programs. “Activating killer T cells alone is not enough. To work better for all patients, we think effective cancer vaccines and immunotherapy drugs must activate both the killer and helper T cells.”

Originally published by Washington University School of Medicine at medicine.wustl.edu/news


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