The human body has a natural defense mechanism against cancer - a growth factor called IL-15.
This factor stimulates the production of immune cells, including natural Killers ( NK), helping to detect and destroy cancer cells right from the time they are first formed.
However, cancer cells constantly evolve and develop sophisticated mechanisms to "deactivate" the immune system, even in an environment rich in IL-15.
A seemingly effective approach is to take IL-15-activating drugs into the patient's body on immune cells. However, these therapies are seriously toxic because they activate the immune system throughout the body, instead of just in the tumor, leading to many side effects.
Now, a new study conducted by Monash University and biotech company oNKo-Innate (Australia) is opening up a promising direction for cancer treatment.
The team discovered a gene that can turn off in NK cells, making them particularly sensitive to IL-15 endogenous, thereby promoting the ability to kill cancer more effectively.
The study was conducted by Professor Nick Huntington ( Monash Institute of Biomedicine Research) and colleagues, published in the international journal Cancer Cell. This study shows that when this gene is removed from NK cells in humans, only a small amount of IL-15 is enough to strongly activate the ability to kill cancer, helping to slow the development of colorectal cancer in the preclinical model.
It is noteworthy that this gene encodes an enzyme, meaning it can be completely inhibited by small cell drugs. In fact, a drug being tested to treat symbiosis and Myasthenia gravis has shown the ability to intervene in the similar nuclear pathway, helping to destroy cancer cells.
This brings hope for the development of more specific and safer drugs to apply in cases where immunotherapy is not optimal and needs to enhance the immune response to cancer.
The team used CRISPR technology to screen and detect genes that increase the sensitivity of immune cells to growth factors. The results show that the two genes can be eliminated in cell therapy, or inhibited by drugs, thereby improving the cancer-killing effect of NK cells.
This shows that a deep understanding of immunology can bring breakthroughs in solving complex biological problems such as IL-15, and pave the way for a new generation of immunotherapy.
