Colon cancer patients have some hope with new immune therapy – Read story

New Delhi: In a big relief for all the people suffering from colon cancer, researchers have found a way to activate the immune system `s natural cancer-killing T-cells with new immune therapy.

The intervention essentially trains the immune system to recognise and attack the tumour, and to protect against additional tumour formation - a significant issue in colon cancer, said corresponding author Ajay Maker, Associate Professor at University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, US.

In the study, published in the journal Cancer Research, the researchers reported that increasing expression of a chemical cytokine called LIGHT in mice with colon cancer activated the immune system`s natural cancer-killing T-cells and caused primary tumours in the liver to shrink.

LIGHT is an immune-stimulating chemical messenger previously found to have low levels of expression in patients with colon cancer metastases.

"For most patients with colon cancer that has spread to the liver, current treatments are palliative and not curative," Maker said.

"And while studies have suggested that immunotherapy may be a promising approach for advanced cancers, the use of such treatments for advanced gastrointestinal metastases have not yet been very successful," Maker said.

This study is exciting because it looks at an immunotherapy intervention for a previously unresponsive gastrointestinal cancer, Maker said.

For the study, the researchers established colon cancer tumors in a mouse model, in which the animals had an intact and unedited immune system.

(With IANS inputs)