What is it about?
The killing of regulatory T cells (Tregs) that infiltrate cancer may represent a way to favor tumor rejection by the immune system of the host. Antibodies against proteins expressed mainly on the surface of Tregs (Treg markers) can promote the killing of Tregs by a mechanism called antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). We investigated the mRNA expression of 24 Treg markers in 5728 human cancer samples to discover which is/are the best Treg marker(s) that can be targeted by antibodies to cause ADCC.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
Our study suggests that the ADCC strategy is unlikely to promote tumor rejection in 5 cancers (colorectal, liver, prostate and two kinds of ovarian cancers) but can succeed in 4 cancers (breast, renal and two kinds of lung cancers). Antibodies against 4-1BB, CD39, galectin-9, GITR, IL-21R, LAP, neuropilin-1, TIGIT, and TNFR2 are likely to promote ADCC in these cancers. However, not all antibodies are forecasted to work to the same extent in all tumors. For example, anti-LAP appears to be the best in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma, anti-GITR in the treatment of squamous NSCLC and anti-TIGIT in the treatment of non-squamous NSCLC.
Perspectives
Our findings suggest that each kind of tumor is infiltrated by a peculiar population of Tregs and may have value for the development of new anti-tumor antibodies. However, they need to be validated by immunohistochemical studies on cancer samples. Moreover, the potential toxicity of candidate antibodies has to be investigated.
Prof Giuseppe Nocentini
University of Perugia
Immunotherapy is one of the most promising approaches for the treatment of human cancers. In our study, we analyzed the possibility to kill, through ADCC, regulatory T cells in the tumor microenvironment. In this way, it is possible to favor the rejection of cancer. Our results showed that GITR and TIGIT are the best Treg markers that can be used for this strategy; these findings can be useful to address future research.
Dr Luigi Cari
Universita degli Studi di Perugia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Potential effect of tumor-specific Treg-targeted antibodies in the treatment of human cancers: A bioinformatics analysis, OncoImmunology, November 2017, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2017.1387705.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
