Scientific studies for the prevention and treatment of cancer continue to make important progress. Immunotherapy, the latest therapeutic frontier which replaces – for the better – chemotherapy in some particularly aggressive neoplastic forms, can now find a further application in the treatment of colorectal cancerstill today among the most difficult to treat.
The ‘weak point’ of the tumor
In fact, the weak point of a type of colorectal cancer, the second cause of death for oncological reasons worldwide, has been discovered: it is now possible to transform some of these, refractory to treatments with immunotherapy, into more vulnerable forms and therefore treatable.
The Italian study
The result, obtained on mice, is entirely Italian: the study, published in the journal Cancer Cell which also dedicated the cover to it, is in fact the result of the collaboration between University of Turin e Foundation Institute of Molecular Oncology (Ifom) of Milanwith the contribution of the Universities of Milan and Palermo, the Cancer Institute of Candiolo, the National Institute of Molecular Genetics Ingm of Milan, the Asst Grande Ospedale Niguarda of Milan and the Cogentech company.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is an extremely promising treatment option for many cancers, but for colorectal its use is severely limited: this is because, in 95% of cases, the tumors are refractory to this treatment and are in fact defined as ‘cold’.
The difference is probably due to DNA repair mechanisms: “In most patients, these mechanisms are still functional”, he explains to ANSA Alberto Bardelli, research director at Ifom and professor at the University of Turin, who coordinated the study. “Only in 5% of patients the tumor has lost this mechanism and therefore produces altered proteins that activate the immune system”.
Trying to convert ‘cold’ tumors into ‘hot’ tumors, researchers led by Vito Amodio, of Ifom, University of Turin and Istituto di Candiolo, have discovered that some of the most resistant tumors hide more vulnerable parts.
Using 6-Thioguanine, a drug already used in the treatment of some leukemias, in mice, they managed to enlarge the ‘hot’ areas of these tumors, which then become treatable with immunotherapy. The authors of the study are now investigating whether the results obtained in laboratory animals can be extended to humans.
