by UChicagoMedicine –
Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer care by training the immune system to detect and destroy tumors. For many patients, it works very well in shrinking tumors and sending cancer into remission, an undetectable state of cancer. But that remission is short-lived in some cases, and the cancer can return more resistant than before.
Researchers at the University of Chicago recently revealed that a small group of cancer cells, known as tumor-initiating stem cells (tSCs) hijack nearby neutrophils, turning them from attackers into protectors to survive attacks from the immune system which has been activated by immunotherapy.
The findings, published in Cancer Cell, not only explain a major cause of immunotherapy treatment failure, but also offer guidance for future treatments: combining immunotherapy with a common painkiller, such as aspirin, may prevent cancer relapse.
