England – Scientists have discovered that certain immune cells chase cancer throughout the body, a discovery that might lead to personalized treatments for advanced breast cancer.
The study identified characteristics of cells called immune B cells that make them successful in targeting tumors, including when cancer has spread to a different part of the body.
Scientists say they have developed a tool to identify these anti-cancer cells that might lead to improved, personalized immunotherapies.
Immunotherapy uses a person’s own immune system to fight cancer. It works by helping the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells.
Dr Stephen John Sammut, first author of the study and head of the Cancer Dynamics Group at the Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR), explains: “Once cancer has spread to other parts of the body, it is often more difficult to treat. “Our research has revealed that the immune response to cancer is not limited to the site where the tumor initially appears, and if the immune B cell successfully detects cancer in one part of the body, it will search for similar cancer cells elsewhere in the body.”
A consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust added: “There are currently very few immunotherapies that can be used to treat breast cancer. The computational tool we have developed will allow us to zoom in and identify which B cells have recognized cancer cells, as well as the antibodies they produce. “This will allow us to develop cancer antibody therapies similar to those produced by B cells, which can then be offered as a personalized treatment to boost the immune system’s response once morest metastatic breast cancer.”
Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge took biopsies from breast cancer patients and identified genetic differences in B cells.
B cells are part of the immune system and produce proteins called antibodies that attach to harmful substances such as viruses and cancer, and recruit other parts of the immune system to destroy them.
The team studied the B cells of people with advanced breast cancer who died following the cancer had spread to other parts of the body.
They also looked at a group of patients with early breast cancer who were treated with chemotherapy over time.
According to the study, when one of the receptors on the B cell recognizes and binds to a cancer cell, the B cell changes to be more effective in targeting those cancer cells.
The team found that some unique B cells that diversified their genetic sequences following identifying and targeting cancer cells were present at multiple tumor sites to which the cancer had spread.
This means that by recognizing cancer in one area of the body, B cells migrate to chase cancer in different locations around the body.
Other B cells that were found at only one tumor site were less susceptible to genetic change and did not perform effective cancer surveillance.
The scientists used this information to develop a tool to predict which B cells are most likely to successfully detect and target cancer cells.
Professor Christian Heylen, Chief Executive of the Institute of Cancer Research London, added: “This study provides a fascinating insight into the role of B cells over the course of cancer growth and spread, and I look forward to seeing this tool used to focus efforts to develop personalized cancer immunotherapies that might work in a greater number.” “In a lot of people compared to most immunotherapies that exist now.”
The results were published in the journal Nature Immunology.
Source: Independent
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2024-05-07 07:33:40
