This allows the tumor to be protected from the rest of the immune system and begin to infiltrate blood vessels, enabling it to spread easily to other parts of the body. This is why it is so difficult to treat. However, a new hope has emerged for treating cancerous tumors more effectively.
Researchers in Professor Ido Amit’s lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science have used next-generation gene editing, single-cell technologies, and artificial intelligence to identify a master switch that turns macrophages into cancer fighters.
Thanks to these discoveries, the team of scientists developed a highly effective therapy for mice with bladder tumors. This type of cancer is more common in humans, although until now only limited therapies exist.
“Master gene”: a new cancer therapy discovered
“Macrophages are extremely versatile cells, a kind of ‘Swiss Army knife’ of the immune system, capable of activating multiple types of functions for different tasks and in different situations ,” explains Amit, a professor in the Department of Systems Immunology at Weizmann.
Macrophages have the capacity to be highly effective cancer eradicators. They can perform multiple antitumor functions, such as promoting anticancer inflammation or alerting the rest of the immune system to the dangers of tumor cells.
“In this way, tumors protect themselves from the ‘bad’ side of macrophages and also activate the functions of macrophages that help them grow, such as suppressing the activity of other types of immune cells and stimulating the growth of blood vessels to supply oxygen to the tumor.”
