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Otago University research findings shed light on the reasons for new immunologic checkpoint inhibitory therapies, such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab, approved by the New Zealand government for the first time in 2016 to treat metastatic melanoma patients
New immunotherapeutic drugs herald a significant advance in cancer cure. Although they may be effective in some patients with melanoma, in others, the therapies do not work at all and most eventually become resistant to immunotherapy treatments.
One of the main components of the immune mechanism is a protein on the surface of the skin. cancerous cells called PD-L1 that may potentially be receptive or block immunotherapy. The researchers were able to show that epigenetic modification – DNA modifications that do not directly alter the DNA sequence – alter the frequency with which a cell uses specific genes – specifically the methylation of the gene. DNA, influences the expression of PD-L1 on the surface of cancer cells.
"Currently, there are no reliable biomarkers to predict the benefits of immunotherapy in melanoma and these are desperately needed in the clinic," said researcher Chris Jackson. Read : Weight loss during cancer treatment and remission – is this normal?
Jackson added that biomarkers help to select which patients are eligible and who is not. "Many groups around the world are looking for immunotherapeutic biomarkers and this Otago discovery of an epigenetic marker looks very promising," he added.
Jackson thinks that the results will have to be tested in people with melanoma being treated. Another lead researcher, Aniruddha Chatterjee, says the findings suggest that epigenetic therapies could be used in clinical trials in combination with immunotherapy in melanoma to treat patients. However, further trials would be needed before this becomes a possibility
Due to the unavailability of robust biomarkers, it is difficult to predict a patient's response and also a relatively lower understanding resistance to immunological treatment of melanoma. . Otago researchers believe that they have discovered a key piece of the puzzle.
DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that plays a key role in switching genes "on" or "off" and helps to determine cellular function. "Our research provides evidence that this is the overall loss of DNA methylation that regulates the constitutive expression of the PD-L1 immune control point in melanoma," Chatterjee said. Read: 9 myths about cancer that you should stop believing!
The results were announced by international research peers as "very innovative" and a major breakthrough in understanding the biology of melanoma.
Source: ANI
Source of the Image: Shutterstock
Posted: July 2, 2018 11:21
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