BOSTON: Scientists have identified an antibody that can promote the immune system’s ability to fight different types of cancer and reduce tumour growth, making it an attractive candidate for immunotherapy.
In a new study published in the journal Science Immunology, researchers from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in the US found that the antibody that can precisely target regulatory T cells which in turn unleashes the immune system to kill cancer cells.
Researchers, who were studying the underpinnings of multiple sclerosis, found that the antibody decreased tumor growth in models of skin, brain and colon cancer.
“My team studied a subpopulation of T cells that are supposed to prevent autoimmune disease, we had an idea,” said Howard Weiner, from BWH.
“If cancer is the opposite of an autoimmune disease, we could turn our investigations around and think about how to restore the immune system’s ability to prevent cancer’s growth,” Weiner said.
T cells (Tregs), which help maintain the immune system’s tolerance of self, can also promote cancer’s growth by preventing the body’s immune system from detecting and attacking cancer cells.
The researchers found that they could precisely target Tregs using an antibody that locks in on a molecular complex that’s uniquely expressed on the cell surface of Tregs.
The team developed these ‘anti-LAP’ antibodies initially to investigate the development of multiple sclerosis, but realised that their work had implications for the study of cancer. (AGENCIES)
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