Researchers seeking new ways of fighting cancer using immunotherapy have discovered a “hidden brake” that had previously been unknown to scientists. This brake exists on immune cells and scales back their ability to combat cancer, and it acts without any influence from tumor cells.
This molecule, dubbed SLAMF6, occurs naturally on fighter immune cells called T-cells. It is an inbuilt weakness on those cells and it shuts off T-cells’ capacity to kill tumor cells. In preclinical trials, the researchers turned off this switch and were able to revive the immune cells’ ability to combat cancer.
The study, whose findings were published in the journal Nature, was led by Doctor Andre Veillette at IRCM (Montreal Clinical Research Institute) in Canada. The researchers found that this method of suppressing the immune system activates without any influence exerted by the tumors in a patient.
The researchers found that when SLAMF6 activates on T-cell surfaces, it releases a signal instructing those cells to scale down their capacity to attack tumors. The signal also stops the body from producing long-lasting, robust and healthy T-cells. Additionally, once this signal activates, immune cells become exhausted and lose their ability to fight cancer.
These findings are translational because the existing methods of administering immunotherapy aim to get rid of “external brakes” triggered by cancer cells to deactivate the immune system or evade the body’s response to the malignancy.
After uncovering SLAMF6, the researchers created new antibodies that could prevent this molecule from exerting its influence on T-cells. The new antibodies produced many desirable results on the immune system including higher activation of T-cells, production of more long-lasting fighter T-cells, strong anti-cancer activity by the immune system, and fewer cases of exhausted T-cells.
This research offers a promising way to use immunotherapy for patients who were either unresponsive to PD-L1 or PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors, or those that stopped being responsive to these treatments. The new treatment approach may end up being used alongside the existing checkpoint inhibitor treatments or independently.
The task that the scientists behind this discovery have is to conduct clinical trials to ascertain whether their new treatment approach can have similar results in humans as what they found when they tested the method on mice. They plan to test this technique in patients that have blood cancers and those diagnosed with solid tumors.
This shift from seeking to neutralize external brakes to the immune system to targeting an internal brake within the immune system itself offers an exciting and empowering way to approach cancer treatment. Biotech companies like Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) that are also engaged in conducting research aimed at finding better ways to boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer are likely to cheer on the IRCM team since the fight against cancer is an all-hands-on-deck undertaking.
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