It’s a race that has been ongoing for decades – researchers trying to find ways to stop cancer cells from spreading in the body. But now, a groundbreaking study led by the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School, KK Women and Children’s Hospital, A*STAR’s Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), the University of Southampton and the Alan Turing Institute has discovered how cancer cells evade the immune system and spread throughout the body. The study, which was published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications, provides insight into how cancer cells are able to escape detection by the immune system and spread throughout the body.
The study could have significant implications for the development of innovative cancer treatments.
Scientists have been trying to understand how cancer cells manage to escape from the body’s immune system. In this new study, researchers used a technique called single-cell RNA sequencing to investigate how early-stage cancer cells and immune cells called T-cells avoid being detected by the immune system. They found a group of early-stage cancer cells that are driven by two specific proteins, called AXL and AURK, and blocking these proteins can prevent cancer from spreading in laboratory cultures.
Researchers also discovered that T-cells can become dysfunctional in two different ways, and a specific protein called SOX4 plays a role in this dysfunction. The researchers also found that there is a pathway called Midkine that helps cancer cells avoid detection by T-cells. This pathway was confirmed in laboratory experiments using mice with human-like tumours.
The study looked at how cancer cells spread in the body and found that by analyzing the differences in individual cells within a tumour, we can identify weaknesses that can be targeted with new treatments. Researchers found that some proteins, like AXL and AURK, are important in helping cancer cells spread, and blocking them could help stop cancer from spreading.
The study also shows that by looking at single cells, it can be better understood how cancer cells change over time and how the immune system responds. They found that the immune system can sometimes fight cancer, but eventually becomes exhausted and stops working effectively. It was discovered that cancer cells can spread to nearby lymph nodes early on before people might expect it.
The researchers used a technique called VDJ sequencing to understand how the immune system responds to cancer. They found that some immune cells can recognize and attack cancer cells, but they don’t always work properly. This knowledge could be used to develop new treatments that target these immune cells and help them work better against cancer.
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