Immune system plays dual role in breast cancer

Comments

  • JohnSmith
    JohnSmith Member Posts: 651
    edited February 2017

    Thanks.
    I found this article to be a bit vague. I wish there were additional scientific citations.

    What was clear is that the research said: immune cells called neutrophils are turning off cytotoxic T-cells. (This is obviously bad for any cancer patient).

    Also, I'm not convinced that combining chemo and immunotherapy will lead to superior outcomes. Time will tell from the numerous clinical trials that are already exploring this combination approach.
    Here's the same news from the university: www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2017/02/immune-system-plays-dual-role-in-breast-cancer

  • BarredOwl
    BarredOwl Member Posts: 2,433
    edited February 2017

    Here is an abstract from a 2015 publication on which a "K. Kersten" is second author. It mentions a "domino" effect:

    Coffelt et al. (2015), "IL-17-producing γδ T cells and neutrophils conspire to promote breast cancer metastasis"

    http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v522/n7556/full/nature14282.html

    The studies were done in "mouse models of spontaneous breast cancer metastasis", and they report""

    "We mechanistically demonstrate that interleukin (IL)-1β elicits IL-17 expression from gamma delta (γδ) T cells, resulting in systemic, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-dependent expansion and polarization of neutrophils in mice bearing mammary tumours. Tumour-induced neutrophils acquire the ability to suppress cytotoxic T lymphocytes carrying the CD8 antigen, which limit the establishment of metastases. Neutralization of IL-17 or G-CSF and absence of γδ T cells prevents neutrophil accumulation and downregulates the T-cell-suppressive phenotype of neutrophils. Moreover, the absence of γδ T cells or neutrophils profoundly reduces pulmonary and lymph node metastases without influencing primary tumour progression. Our data indicate that targeting this novel cancer-cell-initiated domino effect within the immune system—the γδ T cell/IL-17/neutrophil axis—represents a new strategy to inhibit metastatic disease."

    See also, this helpful Research Highlight piece regarding the above article (free full text):

    Fridlender (2015), "Promoting metastasis: neutrophils and T cells join forces"

    http://www.nature.com/cr/journal/v25/n7/full/cr201562a.html

    For a broader review, see this article:

    Welte (2015), "Interleukin-17 Could Promote Breast Cancer Progression at Several Stages of the Disease"

    https://www.hindawi.com/journals/mi/2015/804347/

    BarredOwl


Categories