Life scientist Edward Patz from the Duke University Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, along with researchers from the Duke Human Vaccine Institute observed lung cancer patients with early-stage tumors, and noticed that some of these tumors never progressed. After comparing these tumors with more lethal tumors, the researchers noticed that those with more lethal tumors were lacking the antibody called compliment factor H (CFH). CFH protects cells from an attack by the immune system by preventing an important immune response from activating - it inhibits the protein complement C3b from depositing on the surface of the cell. This causes the cell membrane to degenerate, leading to the death of the cell.
With this new knowledge about CFH, the research team sought a way to use this antibody as a cancer therapy. They collected white blood cells from cancer patients with the CFH antibody, and were successful in isolating and cloning the antibody genes from immune cells that produce the specific antibody they needed. This method allowed the Duke researchers to produce antibodies that could recognize the region of CFH that was originally targeted, leading to the immune system to attack only cancer cells and leave healthy cells alone.
Now that the antibody had been created, the next step for the researchers was to test its use in different cancers, like lung, gastric and breast. By testing these cancers in both lab dishes and living mice, the antibodies were successful in killing tumor cells without causing any side effects.
“This could represent a whole new approach to treating cancer, and it’s exciting because the antibody selectively kills tumor cells, so we don’t have significant side effects to achieve tumor control. We believe we can modulate the immune response and let the body’s own immune system take over to either kill the tumor or keep it from growing,” Patz explained.
This research was published online in Cell Reports on May 5, 2016.
(Image courtesy of Biotechnology Calendar, Inc.)
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