Major breakthrough! The role of nature focused B cells in antitumor immunotherapy

February 26, 2020 / Biovalley bio on / -- new research shows that there are "factories" full of immune cells lurking in the depths of some tumors, which can help the body fight against cancer and are the key to helping some patients recover In recent years, doctors have turned to a new cancer treatment, immunotherapy, which uses the body's immune system to fight cancer The technology focuses on a type of white blood cell called T cells, which are "trained" to recognize and attack cancer cells But this innovative treatment only works for about 20% of patients, and researchers have been trying to understand why some people respond better than others Three papers published in the journal Nature recently pointed out the direction and pointed out a key internal structure of some tumors: tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) These structures are like "factories or schools" of immune cells that help the body fight cancer, "said Wolf H Fridman." these cells need to be educated in schools - the third level of lymphoid tissue, where they can effectively learn to recognize and attack cancer cells The key to the discovery that "nature is no longer an innocent bystander" is that T cells are far from the only immune cells that can fight cancer Researchers found that TLS is full of B cells, which are immune cells that can produce antibodies "For 15 years, we've been suffering from T-cell cancer," Fridman said with a smile We analyzed these sarcomas to see which cells, and surprisingly these B cells appeared "Beth hellmink, a surgical oncologist at the University of Texas's MD Anderson Cancer Center, who participated in the second study, said the study changed people's perception of the role of B cells in immunotherapy "Through these studies, we found that B cells are not only innocent bystanders, but also contribute in a meaningful way to fight tumor immune response," she said in a statement issued by the center "This finding is somewhat surprising because large numbers of B cells in cancer patients are sometimes seen as a sign of poor prognosis However, it was found that patients with high B cell content in TLS were more likely to respond well to immunotherapy "This series of studies is exciting because they represent real progress in the treatment of different types of cancer," said Louisa James, lecturer in immunology at buzz, Queen Mary University of London, and London School of medicine and dentistry "In the short term, these results provide a new tool to help predict which patients might benefit from immunotherapy, and could pave the way for future improvements," James added, who was not involved in the study There are still many unsolved questions about nature's improvement of cancer treatment, including why these structures are formed in some tumors and not in others Although it is now clear that B cells play a key role in the success of immunotherapy, scientists are not sure exactly how It may be that B cells are on the front line, producing antibodies to effectively attack cancer cells Or they may support T cells, or both Not all TLS are the same: researchers have found three types, but only one is "mature" enough to produce cancer fighting immune cells The study opens up several promising avenues, the authors say Initially, it can help doctors screen patients to see who are most likely to respond well to immunotherapy Goran Jonsson, Professor of oncology and pathology at Lund University in Sweden, who participated in the third study, said that in the end, the study may mean that more patients can successfully use the technology for treatment "If we can find a treatment to enhance TLS formation, we can combine it with current immunotherapy," he said It is likely that this will lead to more patients responding to immunotherapy (bio Com) reference materials: [1] cabrita, R et al Terry lymphaid structures improve immunology and survival in Mexico Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1914-8 (2020) [2] petitprez, F et al B cells are associated with survival and Immunology response in sarcoma Nature https：//doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1906-8 (2020) 【3】Helmink， B A et al B cells and tertiary lymphoid structures promote immunotherapy response Nature https：//doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1922-8 (2020) 【4】 New predictors for immunotherapy responses sharpen our view of the tumour microenvironment 【5】 Scientists find powerhouses that fight tumours from within