New immunotherapy strategy may help immune system fight brain tumours
Researchers at IGP have discovered a way to reprogramme key immune cells in brain-draining lymph nodes to boost the body’s response against brain tumours.
Microscope image of brain tumour sections. Immune-cold tumour (left) and immune-active tumour (right). Nuclei are stained in blue, immune cells are labeled in red and yellow. Image of Mats Hellström's group.
Brain tumours are notoriously hard to treat, in part because they suppress the immune system in unique ways. In a new study, scientists show that dendritic cells – immune cells that play a central role in activating T cells – behave differently in the lymph nodes connected to the brain than in those elsewhere in the body. Rather than triggering an immune attack, these cells promote immune tolerance in the presence of brain tumours.
However, by stimulating a specific immune pathway known as OX40, the research team was able to “reprogramme” these dendritic cells to support a therapeutic immune response. This reactivation led to increased activity of T cells, another type of immune cells, and a shift away from the immunosuppressive environment typical of brain tumours.
“This approach shows that we can reshape how the immune system views brain tumours – from ignoring them to actively fighting them. The findings suggest new possibilities for developing immunotherapies that are more effective in treating aggressive brain cancers such as gliomas and lymphomas,” says the study’s first author Oscar Badillo, from Mats Hellström’s research group.
The study was published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.