A team led by researchers at Harvard Medical School has identified a way that tumor cells can turn off the immune system, allowing the tumor to grow unchecked.
Tumor cells with a particular mutation release a chemical, a metabolite, that weakens nearby immune cells, rendering them less capable of killing cancer cells. They found that the metabolite secreted by the tumor hijacks the body's normal defense mechanism and causes it to break down,
"Our study highlights an immune component in this type of cancer that wasn't fully appreciated before. We now know that a metabolite produced by tumor cells can impact nearby immune cells to make the surrounding environment less hostile for the cancer."
Marcia Haigis, Senior Author, Professor of Cell Biology, Blavatnik Institute at HMS-
The team worked on tumors with a mutation in a gene called isocitrate dehydrogenase, or IDH. IDH mutations occur in around 3.5 percent of cancers, including solid cancers such as gliomas and blood cancers such as acute myeloid leukemia. In fact, approximately 80 percent of low-grade gliomas and secondary glioblastomas have an IDH mutation. Tumor cells that harbor this mutation secrete D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG), a metabolite not normally found at high levels in the human body.
The therapeutic implication of this research is still unknown and further research is needed to develop therapies that take advantage of the interaction between cancer cells and immune cells.
Tumor cells with a particular mutation release a chemical, a metabolite, that weakens nearby immune cells, rendering them less capable of killing cancer cells. They found that the metabolite secreted by the tumor hijacks the body's normal defense mechanism and causes it to break down,
"Our study highlights an immune component in this type of cancer that wasn't fully appreciated before. We now know that a metabolite produced by tumor cells can impact nearby immune cells to make the surrounding environment less hostile for the cancer."
Marcia Haigis, Senior Author, Professor of Cell Biology, Blavatnik Institute at HMS-
The team worked on tumors with a mutation in a gene called isocitrate dehydrogenase, or IDH. IDH mutations occur in around 3.5 percent of cancers, including solid cancers such as gliomas and blood cancers such as acute myeloid leukemia. In fact, approximately 80 percent of low-grade gliomas and secondary glioblastomas have an IDH mutation. Tumor cells that harbor this mutation secrete D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG), a metabolite not normally found at high levels in the human body.
The therapeutic implication of this research is still unknown and further research is needed to develop therapies that take advantage of the interaction between cancer cells and immune cells.
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