It has been just revealed that there is new hope for treating bowel cancer. Check out the latest reports about this below.
New treatment for bowel cancer
Scientists have achieved a medical breakthrough by using immune cells in the large intestine to impede the growth of bowel cancers in mice. Immunotherapy is one of the most promising cancer treatments available, as it trains a patient’s immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells.
However, the effectiveness of most current immunotherapies for bowel cancer is limited to fewer than 10% of patients.
“We have discovered that an important group of immune cells in the large bowel – gamma delta T cells – are crucial to preventing bowel cancer,” says immunologist Lisa Mielke from the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute at La Trobe University in Australia.
Bowel cancer accounts for approximately 1 in every 10 cancer cases, according to Science Alert. It is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally, and its lack of early symptoms often results in late diagnoses that are difficult to treat.
In a world-first breakthrough, a team of researchers from Australia and the US, led by Marina Yakou, a PhD student at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, have discovered a new roadmap for developing targeted combination immunotherapies to more effectively treat bowel cancer patients.
Yakou, Mielke, and their team examined tissue samples from bowel cancer tumors and samples from patients without bowel cancer.
They found a correlation between gamma delta T cells and favorable clinical outcomes in bowel cancer. Patients with more of this type of immune cell in their tumors had better survival rates and experienced more positive recoveries.
“Gamma delta T cells act as our frontline defenders in the bowel,” Mielke says. “What makes these immune cells extraordinary is that they constantly patrol and safeguard the epithelial cells lining the bowel, acting as warriors against potential cancer threats.”
Bowel cancer initiates its harmful growth and division process in the large intestine. This process often begins with small, harmless polyps – a tissue growth from the gut’s mucous membrane.
Trillions of microorganisms form the microbiome residing in this section of the digestive tract.
A wide variety of bacteria in the microbiome plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy immune system, although some are associated with diseases.
Each region of the gut has a unique function and differs in the type and number of microorganisms present. Researchers have speculated that the composition of the microbiome may affect the gamma delta T cells and other immune cells in the gut.
Upon analyzing cells from the guts of both humans and mice, the researchers discovered molecular features in the large intestine that affect the gamma delta T cells’ ability to function effectively. In contrast, the T cells in the small intestine were functioning efficiently and doing their job well.
“We discovered that the amount, and diversity of, the microbiome in the large bowel resulted in a higher concentration of a molecule called TCF-1 on gamma delta T cells compared to other areas of the gut,” explains Yakou.
“This fundamentally changed the behavior of these immune cells and we saw a remarkable reduction in the size of bowel cancer tumors,” Yakou says.
The microbiome in the large bowel has the potential to be altered, which in turn can improve the cancer-fighting abilities of T cells in humans.
The research team considers this a significant advancement in our understanding of the microbial and immune cell communities in the gut, and it could result in earlier screening and treatment options for various types of cancer and other diseases.
