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Stockholm [Sweden], July 6 (ANI): Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden have discovered lymph node-like structures near the tumor in brain cancer patients, where immune cells can be activated to attack the tumor.
In their study published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers found that immunotherapy improved the formation of these structures in a mouse model. This finding suggests new opportunities to regulate the anti-tumor response of the immune system.
Glioma is a fatal brain tumor with a poor prognosis. One of the reasons that brain tumors are very difficult to treat is that our immune system, which is designed to detect and destroy foreign cells, including cancer cells, cannot easily reach the tumor site due to barriers that surround the brain.
To fight a developing tumor, killer immune cells such as T lymphocytes must be activated and primed in our lymph nodes, before traveling to the tumor site to effectively kill the cancer cells. Because of the barriers around the brain, it is difficult for T cells to reach the tumor.
The researchers describe their discovery of structures similar to lymph nodes in the brain where T cells could be activated.
“It was extremely exciting to discover for the first time the presence of lymph node-like structures in patients with glioma. These structures are called tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) and they are not found in healthy individuals. support the activation of lymphocytes in place, which means that they could have a positive effect on the anti-tumor immune response, ”said Alessandra Vaccaro, doctoral student in the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology.
The researchers also showed that the formation of TLS in the brain can be induced by a type of immunotherapy in mice with gliomas. This is because when they treated the mice with immunostimulating antibodies called aCD40, the formation of TLS was enhanced and always occurred near the tumors.
“Learning that immunotherapies can modulate the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures in the brain offers exciting opportunities to find new ways to regulate the anti-tumor immune response in glioma,” said Anna Dimberg.
aCD40 is currently being tested to treat brain tumors in a number of clinical trials. In the now published study, researchers found that while aCD40 stimulated TLS formation, it also counterproductively inhibited the tumor killing ability of T cells. The study therefore provided important information about the multifaceted effects of aCD40 therapy. (ANI)
(This is an unedited, auto-generated story from the Syndicated News Feed, the staff at LatestLY may not have edited or edited the body of the content)
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