Scientists have found a novel immunotherapy that could bolster the effectiveness of cancer treatment, according to a study. Rather than rally T cells against cancer, scientists have used different human immune cells called natural killer (NK) cells as a novel means to fight cancer, according to a study.

The team of scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine described findings that could boost the impact of immune-checkpoint therapy, the study said. Findings have been published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as Keytruda and Opdivo work by unleashing the immune system’s T cells to attack tumour cells. Their introduction a decade ago marked a major advance in cancer therapy, but only 10 per cent to 30 per cent of treated patients experience long-term improvement, the study said.

“We believe the novel immunotherapy we have developed has great potential to move into clinical trials involving various types of cancer,” said study leader Xingxing Zang. The surfaces of immune cells are studded with receptors known as ‘checkpoint’ proteins, which prevent immune cells from straying beyond their usual targets, which are pathogen-infected cells and cancer cells. When checkpoint receptors on immune cells bind with proteins expressed by the body’s own normal cells, the interaction puts the brakes on a possible immune-cell attack, the study explained. Diabolically, most types of cancer cells express proteins that bind with checkpoint proteins, tricking immune cells into standing down and not attacking the tumour, the study said. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are monoclonal antibodies designed to short-circuit immune-cell/cancer-cell interactions by blocking either the tumour proteins or the immune-cell receptors that bind with tumour proteins. With no brakes to impede them, immune cells can attack and destroy cancer cells, the study said. The limited effectiveness of checkpoint inhibitors prompted Zang and other scientists to look at checkpoint pathways involving NK cells, which, like T cells, play major roles in eliminating unwanted cells, the study said. A cancer-cell protein called PVR soon captured their attention. Source: PTI