Researchers have discovered a new immune cell receptor that could pave the way for new cancer therapies.
One approach to fighting cancer is to rely on our natural defenses. T lymphocytes, in particular, are a type of white blood cells involved in the functioning of our immune system. Basically, they recognize and attack defective or foreign cells in our body, helping us to fight infections and diseases.
In immunotherapy, there is a technique (CAR-T treatment) aimed at increasing this natural function of T cells. The idea is to extract them from the blood of patients and then to genetically modify them in the laboratory to enable them to identify and specifically target cancer cells. The T cells are then multiplied before being administered to patients.
These treatments nevertheless have some limits. On the one hand, the edited T cells are able to recognize only a few types of cancer . And on the other hand, the main receptor of these cells called human leukocyte antigen (HLA) varies between individuals . In other words, each treatment must be "personalized".
Nevertheless, this type of approach may soon evolve. Researchers from the University of Cardiff, in the United Kingdom, explain that they have discovered a new type of receptor in T cells.
This receptor molecule called MR1 works similarly to the first. On the other hand, it remains the same for each individual . In other words, it could potentially form the basis of a new therapy capable of operating on a much wider range of people.
At least, that's the theory. Indeed, this approach, as promising as it is, has so far only been tested in mice.
In lab tests, however, rodents bred to develop cancer cells of the lung, skin, blood, colon, breast, bones, prostate, ovaries, kidneys and cervix showed signs of regression of their disease . They also lived longer than the control group that did not receive therapy.
It is not known at this time if this approach could be as effective in humans. Nevertheless, this opens up the prospect of a single type of T cell capable of destroying many types of cancer in a large number of subjects.
Researchers now aim to continue safety checks and learn more about the mechanisms by which MR1 identifies cancer cells at the molecular level. Only then will they be able to consider setting up the first clinical trials.
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