One shot: discovered cells of the immune system, destroying most cancer cells

an international team of researchers has discovered a new type of immune cells, able to chase and destroy most types of cancer cells. Discovery can make a real revolution in the field of immunotherapy and lead to a universal cancer treatment, experts say.

the technology Development of CAR-T (SEG antigen receptor, which can be translated as chimeric antigen receptor T-cells) has become one of the most innovative advances in cancer therapy in recent years. We are talking about personalized treatment, in which T cells of the patient are harvested and preprogramming to the “persecution” of particular proteins found on cancer cells of the patient.

In 2017, the Management on sanitary inspection behind quality of foodstuff and medicines of the USA approved the first such treatment for a young patient with a rare type of cancer of blood and bone marrow. But this therapy is very costly and fraught with serious side effects. Furthermore, CAR-T is not showed proper results in the treatment of solid (solid) tumors that are found in most of all cases.

Another problem of this type of therapy is that there is no universal T-cell receptor (TCR) that can cope with different types of cancer in all patients. But a recent discovery by scientists from Cardiff University shows that this is the wrong point of view.

the Researchers found T cells of the immune system, which are previously unknown receptor. The latter, as suggested by experts, able to chase and destroy most cancer cells. Most importantly, the “newbie” does not harm healthy cells.

it is believed that the recently discovered T-cell is able to distinguish cancer cells from healthy, since it focuses on the molecule MR1, which is located on the surface of many cancer cells. Interestingly, this molecule has almost all cells of the human body. But, as PRelbolaget scientists have cancer cells it is somewhat different, allowing the “universal” TCR efficiently target a broad range of tumors. In other words, the new TKR is able to distinguish healthy cells from cancer, killing only the latter.

Experts have conducted studies in the laboratory and found that T cells with a new TKR, destroy cancer cells of the lungs, skin, blood, colon, breast, bone, prostate, ovaries, kidneys, and cervix. They, as stated above, ignored the healthy cells.

the Researchers have already conducted the test on patients with cancer mice, introducing them to T cells that can recognize MR1. As a result, they were able to “clear” the animal’s organism from the cancer cells. The result can be compared with approved therapy CAR-T, which was tested in the same model mice.

“Modern therapy based on TKR can be applied only to a small number of patients, and it may not be suitable for all cancer,” explains author Professor Andrew Sewell (Andrew Sewell).

According to him, a new targeted therapy for cancer opens up new horizons, and it might lead to the emergence of “universal” treatment of this disease.

“Found the only type of T cell that is capable of destroying many different types of cancer. Previously no one believed that was possible,” adds Sewall.

To date, scientists have conducted experiments to determine the exact molecular mechanism by which early unknown TKR distinguishes healthy cells from cancer.

Professor Sewell believes that human trials could begin in the next few years if further testing of the new therapy on the security will be successful.

Scientific article on the results of the study published in Nature Immunotherapy.

By the way, earlier the authors of the project “Conduct.Science” (nauka.vesti.ru) told how immunotherapy won with aggressionicon alternative type of breast cancer. We wrote about a new immunotherapeutic vaccine for cancer, which has passed the first clinical trials.

Text: To.Science