January 16, 2023 – 10:08 PM
Scientists from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the Netherlands Cancer Institute have discovered how specialized immune cells are able to detect and remove tumors that are ‘invisible’ to the conventional defense mechanisms of the immune system.
The study was published on January 11, 2023 in the renowned scientific Nature magazine. The findings may lead to new cancer immunotherapies.
Detecting abnormal cells in our body is normally a task of conventional T cells, white blood cells that play an important role in the immune system. These cells can recognize many types of abnormalities, such as viral and bacterial infections. But the immune system sometimes has trouble detecting cancer cells. These malignant cells are only recognized by conventional T cells if they have a specific molecule attached to them. But to escape the immune system, some cancer cells lack this molecule, making them “invisible” to conventional T cells.
Why does immunotherapy work in these patients?
However, researchers from the LUMC and NKI recently noticed a strange phenomenon: some patients with ‘invisible’ tumors respond very well to immunotherapy against cancer. Specifically, in these therapies, the activity of conventional T cells is stimulated or enhanced by antibodies.
“But these cancers lack the very molecules that enable conventional T cells to recognize them. We therefore did not understand why the patients responded so well to the treatment,” says Noël de Miranda, group leader of the Cancer Immunogenomics research group at the Department of Pathology at the LUMC.
The second line of defense on the move
Further investigation of cells from patients treated at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital shows that so-called gamma delta T cells – a less well-known, specialized type of immune cell – are able to detect cancer cells that are invisible to conventional T cells.
De Miranda: “This shows that our immune system has some kind of backup. If it is not possible to recognize cancer cells in the normal way, there is a second line of defense. Our findings may eventually lead to new treatments of ‘invisible’ tumors with gamma delta T cells.”
Develop new immunotherapies
“We are only just beginning to unlock the tremendous potential of gamma delta T cells for the development of new immune therapies for cancer,” said Emile Voest, professor of medical oncology, group leader at the Netherlands Cancer Institute/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek and researcher at Oncode . “We now have a better understanding of how these immune cells work against tumors in cancer patients and how we can use them to develop new immune therapies. These immune cells will especially be able to play a role in treating cancers that cannot be eliminated by conventional T cells.”
The research is funded by Oncode en the European Research Council.
Source: LUMC
Editorial Medicalfacts/ Janine Budding
I studied physiotherapy and Health Care business administration. I am also a registered independent client support worker and informal care broker. I have a lot of experience in various positions in healthcare, the social domain and the medical, pharmaceutical industry, nationally and internationally. And have broad medical knowledge of most healthcare specialties. And of the care laws from which the care is regulated and financed. Every year I attend most of the leading medical conferences in Europe and America to keep my knowledge up-to-date and to keep up with the latest developments and innovations. Currently I am doing a Masters in Applied Psychology.
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