April 21, 2017 (Medical News Today)
André Veillette and a team of researchers at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) / Montreal Clinical Research Institute have discovered why immonotherapy works on some patients but not on others. Their results have been published in Nature.
Cancer cells fight the natural immunity of the human body. Immunotherapy seeks to turn the immunity back on. However, not all patients respond equally to this type of treatment.
In particular, Dr. Veillette’s research group was interested in the treatment using CD47, a protein that is found on the outside of cancer cells making them appear healthy. CD47 inhibitors have been extensively studied in anti-cancer treatments. However, the researchers found that in order for immunotherapy to be effective, another molecule SLAMF7, must be present on cancer cells.
For patients that do not have the SLAM47 molecules, CD47 inhibitors may not be effective or successful. The research may be the key to determining which patients will respond well to CD47 inhibitors in upcoming trials.
Read the full article at Medical News Today.
