Advanced Immunotherapeutic Method Shows Promise against Brain Cancer

    Scientists from KU Leuven in Belgium say they have shown that next-generation cell-based immunotherapy may offer new hope in the fight against brain cancer.

    Cell-based immunotherapy involves the injection of a therapeutic anticancer vaccine that stimulates the patient’s immune system to attack the tumor. Thus far, the results of this type of immunotherapy have been mildly promising. However, Abhishek D. Garg and Prof. Patrizia Agostinis from the KU Leuven department of cellular and molecular medicine believe they have found a novel way to produce more effective cell-based anticancer vaccines.

    The researchers induced a specific type of cell death in brain cancer cells from mice. The dying cancer cells were then incubated together with dendritic cells, which play a vital role in the immune system. The investigators discovered that this type of cancer cell-killing releases ‘danger signals’ that fully activate the dendritic cells.

    “We re-injected the activated dendritic cells into the mice as a therapeutic vaccine,” explains Prof. Agostinis. “That vaccine alerted the immune system to the presence of dangerous cancer cells in the body. As a result, the immune system could recognize them and start attacking the brain tumor.”

    Combined with chemotherapy, this novel cell-based immunotherapy drastically increased the survival rates of mice afflicted with brain tumors. Almost 50% of the mice were completely cured. None of the mice treated with chemotherapy alone became long-term survivors.

    “The major goal of any anticancer treatment is to kill all cancer cells and prevent any remaining malignant cells from growing or spreading again,” says Prof. Agostinis. “This goal, however, is rarely achieved with current chemotherapies, and many patients relapse. That’s why the co-stimulation of the immune system is so important for cancer treatments. Scientists have to look for ways to kill cancer cells in a manner that stimulates the immune system. With an eye on clinical studies, our findings offer a feasible way to improve the production of vaccines against brain tumors.”

    The team published its study (“Dendritic cell vaccines based on immunogenic cell death elicit danger signals and T cell–driven rejection of high-grade glioma”) in Science Translational Medicine.