Unique cells found in cancer patients who have beaten cancer
New, improved T cells that can attack multiple cancer targets have been found in patients who have beaten cancer.Scientists have discovered a previously unknown type of immune cell that develops in people who have beaten cancer. Unlike other killer T cells, they simultaneously attack multiple cancer-related targets, preventing new tumors from forming for up to a year. The discovery could lead to more effective cancer therapies.
The human immune system is the first line of defense against pathogens or diseases like cancer. But sometimes it needs help - immunotherapy. It involves removing immune cells from a patient, recharging them and bringing them back into the body to attack the cancer with renewed vigor.
In the new study, researchers from Cardiff University examined what biological differences there might be between successful and unsuccessful rounds of treatment in different patients. For more than a decade, they followed phase I and II clinical trials investigating so-called tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, which focuses on white blood cells that are already working in a patient's tumor.
The authors of the new study focused on patients who successfully got rid of their cancer after treatment. The scientists exposed the patients' blood samples to tumor cells that had previously been taken from the same patient. It turned out that the surviving patients' killer T-cells still showed a very strong response even one year after remission.
The scientists used algorithms designed to predict the targets that specific T-killers recognize based on the differences between healthy and cancer cells. It turned out that they recognize multiple protein changes in cancer cells. Previously, scientists were sure that each T-cell targets only one protein at a time.
The study authors emphasize that further work is needed to definitively confirm the link between these T cells and cancer cure. Understanding what the enhanced immune cells are targeting will improve other cancer treatments as well.
The study is published in the journal Cell.