Researchers found that one’s immune system can re-engage to destroy tumors after combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy in mice.
Chemotherapy remains the first-line approach for the treatment of solid tumors. It is based on the cytotoxic activity on rapidly dividing cells, but adverse effects are seen on healthy cells that also rapidly divide, such as the intestinal mucosal lining, and hair follicles.
Yale scientists have investigated how a subset of specific T cells survive a microenvironment within a tumor throughout the progression of the cancer.
Precursor stem-like CD8+ T cells help to sustain anti-tumor T cell responses and promote effective immunotherapy treatment response. Although tumor cell signals cause T cells to differentiate, making them ineffective against tumors, a population of the stem-like T cells is maintained.
A new treatment has been approved by the FDA to treat breast cancer that combines chemotherapy with immunotherapy.
The war against cancer is ongoing and consists of both winning and losing battles. There are several cancers that have been successfully treated with immunotherapy. However, one type of cancer has been a challenge for the application of immunotherapy is breast cancer. There are various subtypes of breast cancer, and each requires a different treatment approach due to the distinct biology associated with these cancer types and the specific mechanisms involved in breast tumor development.
An independent publication cites using HemaCare primary T-cells to investigate a novel cancer therapy based on blocking immune suppression while simultaneously promoting T-cell activity. [1]
Newly approved T-cell therapies have been eliciting enthusiastic discussion across the medical field for their unparalleled success rate in treating aggressive blood cancers. This success has unfortunately not extended to the treatment of brain tumors, where upregulation of the “immune checkpoint” molecule PDL-1 interferes with normal immune response. Now a research group based at the University of Alabama’s Medical School may have found a way to outsmart brain cancer cells that evade the body’s immune system.
Immunotherapy for glioblastoma has been considered an option for patients and extend life of patients.
Glioblastoma multiforme is an aggressive cancer of the brain or spinal cord that originates from astrocytes. Although this type of cancer is not age specific, it is diagnosed more often in older patients. Glioblastoma is very difficult to treat, and current options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, use of electrical fields (tumor treating fields), and targeted therapies to prevent tumor blood vessel formation. On average, people live for about 15 months after diagnosis despite receiving the standard treatments for glioblastoma.