A discovery in the understanding of bowel cancer, according to Scottish researchers, may result in new treatments.
Why the immune system of patients ignores the disease has been a long-standing conundrum that has been resolved by researchers at the University of Glasgow and Cancer Research UK's Beatson Institute.
It was unknown until recently how cancer prevents the immune system from recognizing the illness and can prevent it from being destroyed.
In the UK, bowel cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death.
The study's principal investigator, Dr. Seth Coffelt, stated: "Normally, immune cells keep things as they should be, patrolling the bowel like security guards, combating any dangerous bacteria, and maintaining a healthy gut.
"However, when bowel cancerous cells develop, these "security guards" are fired, and all the mechanisms these immune cells use to communicate with one another and coordinate an immune response are no longer produced.
"Cancer manipulates immune cells to prevent them from recognizing it as a threat so that they can continue their normal lives while the cancer is left to wreak havoc. ".
According to researchers, the finding, which was published in the American Association for Cancer Research journal Cancer Immunology Research, may allow for the reversal or prevention of this process.
It would enable the immune system to recognize the bowel cancer cells and prevent them from proliferating.
With approximately 16,800 deaths per year, or 46 per day, bowel cancer is the second most common cancer death cause in the UK.
Each year, the disease is discovered in about 4,000 people in Scotland.
The Glasgow-based researchers concentrated their efforts on gamma delta T cells, a particular class of immune cells.
These T cells patrol this area and attack any threats, such as damaged cells or small tumors, before they can do damage. Bowel cancer starts in the epithelial cells that line the bowel.
Scientists already knew that immune cells that can kill cancer do not frequently act against the presence of bowel cancer, but they did not know why.
Researchers were able to pinpoint the precise mechanism the cancer cells use to rewire the gamma delta T cells on a molecular level by using tissue samples from bowel cancer tumours donated by patients in Scotland and other nations.
The research team that made the discovery is now optimistic that more study will result in treatments that can stop that process.
Researchers said it may be possible to develop new therapies that could reawaken these immune cells by understanding how cancer signals trick the immune system.
According to Dr. Coffelt, if a method can be developed to artificially activate the "blinded" T cells with a drug so that the T cells can see the cancer again, we may discover a new, efficient way to treat bowel cancer. ".
The Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council both provided funding for the study.
