Changing the microenvironment of tumors to increase the immune system’s response to them has been the goal of countless research and clinical studies including the most recent use of checkpoint inhibitory antibodies. The majority of patients have tumors that are “cold” — that is, the tumors don’t contain many immune cells, or they have cells that suppress the ability of the immune system to fight them.
Increasing immune cells within a tumor can change it from “cold” to “hot” — more recognizable to the immune system. Hot tumors show higher rates of response to treatment, and patients with such tumors have improved survival rates.
Physicians and scientists at Rush University Medical Center have found that injecting tumors with influenza vaccines, including some FDA-approved seasonal flu shots, turns cold tumors to hot, a discovery that could lead to an immunotherapy to treat cancer. The study results were published Dec. 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read more at Rush University Medical Center
Photo Credit: PhotoLizM via Pixabay