RE:RE:Immunology wars: Tumor Microenvironment - simply xplainedIn recent years, a new class of immunotherapies that target immune cells within the tumor microenvironment has transformed the treatment of certain types of cancer. Leading this revolution are the so-called immune checkpoint inhibitors that reinvigorate specialized immune cells – called T cells – to recognize, attack and destroy cancer cells.
“These therapies can release the brake that tumors put on the immune system, allowing T cells to respond and help clear the tumor,”
Although some tumors respond well to immune checkpoint blockade, unfortunately, the vast majority are unresponsive. While the reasons behind the high degree of variability between patients are complex, interactions between cancer cells and immune cells within the tumor microenvironment are likely to play an important role
“There’s a variable degree of immune infiltration in tumors, which has given rise to the analogy of an ‘immune desert’ or an ‘immune jungle’,”
“There’s good data to suggest that tumors that are highly immune infiltrated are more sensitive to the effects of these immunotherapies.”
Researchers are striving to define the features of the tumor microenvironment that influence how well a person’s cancer responds to immune checkpoint inhibitors – to identify new biomarkers for personalizing treatment and find ways to boost the effectiveness of these drugs.
“We need to understand the effect of these treatments on the entire tumor microenvironment, rather than only focusing on the specific type of cell they’re targeting,”.
“A killer T cell isn’t there in isolation – it’s interacting with lots of other cells, which will have knock-on effects on how the tumor responds to checkpoint inhibition.”
“For instance, we think of killer T cells as being one group – but in reality, when you examine them at the single cell level, you will find that there are multiple, distinct subsets within that population,”
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/interrogating-the-complexities-of-the-tumor-microenvironment-71131