2017-02-05 14:33:45
The cells of our body must indicate their identity and state of health at all times to the cells of the immune system. When a cell is infected by a virus or a bacterium, it changes its identity, then the immune system identifies it as diseased and eliminates it. A change of molecular identity also occurs in the case of the transformation of a normal cell into a tumor. For this reason, to escape the action of the immune system, cancer cells must develop strategies that allow them to deceive it.
One way to beat cancer could be to train the immune system not to be fooled into attacking tumor cells. It is true that some immune stimulation procedures have given positive results, but at present, most cancer patients do not respond to immunotherapy and the reasons for this lack of response are not known.
Research on the mechanisms of action of immunotherapy has focused on the immune cells that infiltrate tumors. However, it is well known that when the immune system fights against an infection, it does not do so only at the site where it occurs, but rather fight mechanisms are activated that involve the entire organism.
A couple of years ago, researchers at Stanford University, in the USA, discovered a highly effective antitumor immunotherapy procedure, although for the moment it only works in laboratory mice. This procedure contrasts with others that, although effective against certain types of tumors, are not against others. It seems that the way in which the immune system is stimulated is very important depending on the type of tumor to be eradicated.
To study the differences between the effectiveness of the two types of procedures, the researchers use a strain of laboratory mouse that spontaneously develops breast cancer of a highly aggressive type. The immune system of the mice was stimulated with the new procedure, capable of eradicating breast tumors, or with another procedure that did not give the same results and therefore could not eradicate them.
The tumors of the mice stimulated with the efficient procedure began to be eradicated from eight days after the stimulation of the defenses. These results are encouraging because they indicate that, although there is still a long way to go, we are a little closer to curing cancer.
More information on Jorge Laborda’s Blog: Closer to cancer immunotherapy
Referencias: Spitzer et al., Systemic Immunity Is Required for Effective Cancer Immunotherapy, Cell (2017),
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