A new triple therapy has managed to reprogram the death of cancer cells, helping the immune system to destroy tumors.
The objective of immunotherapy is to activate the patient’s own immune system to attack and destroy tumor cells.
In a pre-clinical study, a team of researchers from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm managed to trigger a powerful anti-tumor immune response by reprogramming the way malignant B cells die.
Their work demonstrated the effectiveness of a triple therapy medication in the treatment of certain blood cancers, including specific types of lymphoma and leukemia that affect B cells.
The results were presented in an article recently published in the journal Science Advances.
Immunotherapy, one of the most promising frontiers in oncology therapy, it works by allowing the patient’s immune system identifies and destroys selectively targeting tumor cells.
The immune cells act as sentriesconstantly monitoring the body to detect and remove remaining cancer cells, which helps prevent relapses. Among the most recent immunotherapy methods is one based on a process of programmed cell death called necroptose.
Unlike apoptosis, a form of silent cell death, necroptosis releases molecular signals that alert and activate immune cells to attack the remaining tumor cells.
In the new study, a joint team from Inserm/Institut Pasteu studied the effectiveness of this necroptosis-based immunotherapy in treating hematological cancers, and found that induce necroptosis in B cells malignant diseases is difficult due to the absence of a crucial protein called MLKL.
To overcome this obstacle, scientists then combined the administration of three drugs already used in clinical practice. They confirmed the induction of necroptosis and observed a strong immune responsewhich led to the complete elimination of leukemia in a preclinical model.
“The triple therapy we used forces cancer cells to die in a way that activates the immune system“explains Philippe Boussoresearcher at Inserm and the Institut Pasteur, and main author of the article, cited by .
The results were observed in preclinical models using an innovative technique of intravital imaging. Scientists were able to monitor in real time the interactions between immune cells and cancer cells for the different types of cell death induced.
“This new immunotherapy strategy, successfully tested in preclinical models, transforms tumor cells into immune system triggerspointing to a potential therapeutic route for certain cancers, such as lymphomas or leukemias that affect B cells”, explains Bousso.
“By altering the way cancer cells die, we can mobilize the support of our immune system to fight the tumor“, he concludes.
