NCI: Cancer Tumors Suppress Treg Cells
Research conducted by the National Cancer Institute indicates the function of T cells that regulate the body’s immune system is impaired when cancerous tumors are present.
Findings from a mouse study reported by the NCI Center for Cancer Research indicate tumors reduce the expression of Treg cells, a specialized subset of T Cells responsible for managing the body’s immune response to foreign invaders.
In healthy subjects, Tregs signal to activate an immune response and then turn off the body’s immune defenses once an invader has been defeated preventing the body from attacking its own healthy cells and tissue. But in cancer models, Tregs congregated in the tumor’s microenvironment without signaling the body’s immune system to attack.
NCI’s comparison of Treg cells taken from the spleens of healthy mice and mice with cancer revealed overall immune responses were reduced approximately 2.4-fold in the animals bearing tumors. The scientists also found the number of Treg cells in the tumor and the spleen increased as the tumors grew larger. The study’s authors hope their findings will help in the development of cancer treatments targeting Treg cells. As one of the authors said,
“Understanding the tumor’s effects on Tregs and how these cells maintain themselves inside tumors, and in the environment immediately surrounding tumors, will be important for designing new immunotherapies.”
Helen Sabzevari, PhD
NCI Center for Cancer Research
If you’d like to learn more about this study, the team’s results have been published in the April 18, 2008, online edition of The Journal of Immunology.
Source: NIH News
Related Links: Medical News Today; The Dana Foundation
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