Discovery of Immune Cells-Like Structures in Brain May Hold Treatment for Cancer

Lymph node-like structures close to the tumor in brain cancer patients, where immune cells can be activated to attack the tumor have been discovered by researchers at Uppsala University, published in the journal Nature Communications.

The structures resemble lymph nodes in the brain where T lymphocytes could be activated and its formation was even enhanced by immunotherapy in a mouse model. This may help fight tumors.

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‘Lymph node-like structures close to the tumor in brain cancer patients, where immune cells can be activated to attack the tumor have been discovered by scientists. This may set new opportunities to regulate the anti-tumor response of the immune system and help fight tumors.’

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One of the deadliest types of brain tumour is Glioma with a poor prognosis. As the brain is protected by a tight selective functional barrier called blood-brain-barrier, and hinders the reach of immune cells, it adds on to the difficulty for treating brain tumours.

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A specific type of killer immune cell called T lymphocytes is required to be activated in our lymph nodes for fighting against a tumor.

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"It was extremely exciting to discover for the first time the presence of lymph node-like structures in glioma patients. These structures are known as tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) and they are not found in healthy individuals. They have all the components needed to support lymphocyte activation on-site which means that they could have a positive effect on the anti-tumor immune response," says Alessandra Vaccaro, a Ph.D. student at the Department of Immunology, Genetics, and Pathology and shared the first author of the study.

The study team showed that a type of immunostimulatory antibodies called αCD40 can induce the formation of TLS (in proximity to tumors) in the brain of the glioma mice model. This antibody is under several clinical trials to treat brain tumors.

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However the αCD40 also counterproductively inhibited the tumour-killing ability of the T lymphocytes therefore proving its multifaceted effects.

"Learning that immunotherapies can modulate the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures in the brain offers exciting opportunities to find new ways of regulating the anti-tumor immune response in glioma," says Anna Dimberg who has led the study.

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Source-Medindia