Researchers identify an enzyme that inhibits the immune system in breast cancer

Immunotherapies have transformed cancer care, but their success has been limited for both complex and confusing reasons.

In bad cancer in particular, only a small number of patients are even eligible for immunotherapy treatment, and most see little benefit.

However, in a preclinical study conducted by the Duke Cancer Institute, the researchers presented a potential way to improve these results by releasing tumors of bad cancer from the immune system.

Publish this month in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers identified an enzyme in cells involved in regulating the growth and spread of bad cancer. By performing tests on mice, they showed a way to stop the activity of the enzyme to allow T cells to trigger an immune attack.

"We found that inhibiting the activity of this enzyme decreased the ability of tumor macrophages to suppress an immune attack of cancer cells and actually induced them to produce chemicals that attracted more cancerous T cells." in the tumor, "said Donald McDonnell. , Ph.D., director of the Duke Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. "We can basically unveil the tumor to the immune system."

McDonnell and colleagues, whose lead author and collaborator Luigi Racioppi, M.D., Ph.D., have reported that a kinase, or enzyme, called CaMKK2, is highly expressed in macrophages of human mammary tumors. They conducted a series of exploratory studies that revealed the potential utility of the molecule as a therapeutic target for bad cancer. Working with colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, they have developed a new clbad of drugs that inhibit the growth of human bad tumors developed in mice.

"The use of this molecule inhibited tumor growth not only by increasing the accumulation of T cells killing tumors, but also by reducing the ability of the tumor to suppress T cell activity" said McDonnell. "That solves two problems, as we could not get into the bar, and if we did, we could not have a drink, now we can do both."

McDonnell said more studies are underway, with the goal of obtaining data to initiate a clinical trial in bad cancer patients in the next 18 months.