2022-02-13 21:08:54
“Cancer is a genetic disease,” says Rafael Sirera, our guest today on Talking to Scientists.
When certain genes regulate the proliferation or repair of the ADN in our cells suffer some damage or mutation, they can result in excessive and out of control cell growth. This is how tumors are born, growing agglomerates of cells that can remain stabilized in one place or move to other places in the body and establish new colonies or tumors, which, if not stopped, will end the exquisite balance that keeps us alive. . Cancer is not a disease but a large group of them, since they can originate from any cell of any body tissue that suffers the appropriate genetic variations for its development.
Throughout the series of chapters dedicated to the immune system, in conversations with Jorge Laborda, we have learned how the cells of the immune system defend us from external invaders, such as bacteria, viruses or fungi. Now, since tumors are formed by our own cells, can the immune system also protect us when the enemy is part of ourselves? Rafael Sirera, Professor of Cellular Biology at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and editor of the Spanish Immunology Society, says that he does, indeed, he does it all the time.
The immune system has many functions, in addition to purely defensive ones. One of them is the “body dump” because it deals with eliminating waste that is produced during the normal development of the individual. Another important task has to do with the repair of damaged tissues, which is known as “tissue regeneration”, during which T lymphocytes can promote the growth of new cells to replace the lost ones. These functions indicate that they not only defend us from the outside but also help regulate the internal balance. In this sense, the immune system is prepared to detect and attack our own cells if, due to a genetic mutation, they begin to generate the wrong protein. In that case, the abnormal cell can be identified as potentially harmful and attacked by cells of the defense system. Logically, when the defense is successful, its action will go unnoticed by us, however, if our defenses are unable to detect the abnormal cell and the genetic modification encourages it to multiply uncontrollably, its population will grow continuously and a tumor will be born.
Immunotherapy aims to boost the immune system in its fight against tumors. During the last century, immunotherapy focused on the detection and control of the wrong proteins that characterize tumors, but its efficacy left much to be desired. At the beginning of this century it was discovered that tumors develop strategies aimed at putting a “brake” on the immune system and that it is this “brake” that makes it difficult for a tumor to be eliminated by the body’s natural defenses. Researchers James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo developed antibodies that block this brake on T lymphocytes and enhance their action against cancer cells. The work of Allison and Honjo marked a before and after in immunotherapy as a strategy against this type of disease. His research has accelerated the development of new therapeutic approaches and has made it possible for thousands of cancer patients to receive effective treatment for their disease in recent years. For these works both researchers received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2018.
Not all tumors are equally vulnerable to the immune system, for this reason strategies that work with some have little success or fail with others. To improve tumor immunology, knowledge of everything that happens in a tumor is essential, and for this Rafael Sirera and his team are investigating “biomarkers”, that is, substances produced by tumor cells or by cells in the body in response to the presence of of a cancer. Biomarkers allow us to understand the biological mechanisms that take place in cancer, help to differentiate between the different types that exist and allow us to assess the immune response that is taking place in a patient against a tumor. The knowledge provided by markers can help predict the course of the disease and predict whether or not a patient will respond to treatment.
In the field of what is known as “personalized therapies”, the study of biomarkers makes it possible to detect the molecular alterations existing in a patient’s cancer, knowledge that can be used to provide the patient with the specific drug that will help him fight against the disease and even avoid the supply of drugs to which the developed tumor is resistant.
Rafael Sirera, Professor of Cellular Biology, Department of Biotechnology, Polytechnic University of Valencia and Editor of the Spanish Society of Immunology, speaks to us about these and many other things. I invite you to listen to him.
Rafael Sirera is the author of the popular science blog titled Immunoassays
More information:
Cancer immunotherapy. Realities and perspectives
Cancer Immunotherapy. Realities and Perspectives: Spanish Society of Immunology
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