A new study suggests that a subset of the immune system that includes the body's own cellsProtection against colon canceroffers. Such immune cells, known as innate lymphoid cells (ILC3), maintain the healthy connection between the immune system and gut microbes. In addition, the new finding opens the door to new treatment strategies against such types of cancer.
Stop tumor development in the intestine using the body's own cells
The research team showed that such immune cells tend to drastically reduce and functionally change in people with colon cancer. Furthermore, it became clear that experimentally the functions of ILC3 cells in laboratory mice lead to an aggressive intestinal microbiome. This could prevent tumor formation, but also theEffectiveness of cancer immunotherapyreduce. The new results suggest new possibilities for the clinical approach to colorectal cancer. This also helps to explain why such cancers often do not respond to immunotherapy. In addition, the intestinal flora could be a factor that influences resistance to immunotherapy, according to the study authors. In this research work, they examined the role that the body's own cells play in cancer in the intestine. The research group analyzed colorectal tumors and precancerous polyps from humans and mice. The team found that ILC3 from cancer tissues were relatively depleted compared to healthy tissue and their functions were further fundamentally altered.
In addition to this loss of normal activity of immune cells in the intestine, the authors further observed that the ability to regulate T cells was significantly impaired. This disruption of the dialogue between ILC3 and T cells also led to an increase in intestinal inflammation. These changes in gut microbes, in turn, lead to a decrease in T cells, which are normally strong against tumors. Transplanting microbes from human patients into laboratory mice also led to resistance to therapy.This studysheds light on a mechanism of this resistance that is driven by dysregulation of the microbiome. For example, this suggests that researchers could one day study gut microbiota to predict tumor development and response to immunotherapy. They are now working to identify the types of gut bacteria that are most useful in this regard.
