Scientists have developed a new way to strengthen the cancer-fighting abilities of natural killer (NK) cells, a type of immune cell that serves as one of the body's first defenses against disease. The strategy could help these cells overcome the protective barriers many tumors use to avoid being destroyed.
Researchers at McGill University's Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, working with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, discovered that blocking two specific proteins dramatically improves the ability of NK cells to attack cancer.
In preclinical studies, the enhanced immune cells successfully killed human cancer cells from several aggressive cancers, including leukemia, glioblastoma, kidney cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer. The treatment approach also significantly slowed tumor growth in animal models.
"This approach is particularly promising for patients who currently have very few options, when standard treatments have failed," said senior author Michel L. Tremblay, Distinguished James McGill Professor in McGill's Department of Biochemistry and researcher at the Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute.
New NK Cell Therapy Avoids Permanent Genetic Changes
