Molecular switch may boost cancer immune therapy: Study : sandiegouniontribune

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Molecular switch may boost cancer immune therapy: Study

Molecular switch may boost cancer immune therapy: Study

Cancer immunotherapies have progressed spectacularly in recent years, placing some patients who were nearing death into total remission.But results are uneven, and far from a general cure.A team led by UC San Diego researchers may have found a way of making these cancer immunotherapies more potent.In a study performed in mice, they have discovered a molecular switch that controls the response of immune cells called macrophages.


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Iron nanoparticles may trigger immune response to cancer

Iron nanoparticles may trigger immune response to cancer

STANFORD, Calif., Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Iron nanoparticles activated tumor-associated macrophages in the immune systems of mice with cancer, causing their bodies to start fighting the disease, according to a recent study.The anemia drug ferumoxytol was found in a study with mice to complement chemotherapy for cancer treatment, and even had an effect on its own, researchers at Stanford University report in a study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.In healthy people, macrophages detect and eat tumor cells, but as tumors grow larger they hijack the macrophages to force them to secrete factors promoting cancer growth rather than working against it.While nanoparticles have been used to assist or bolster the effect of cancer treatment, researchers at Stanford wanted to test the effects of nanoparticles alone for treating cancer.


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Iron nanoparticles make immune cells attack cancer

Iron nanoparticles make immune cells attack cancer

A mouse study found that ferumoxytol prompts immune cells called tumor-associated macrophages to destroy tumor cells.Credit: Amy Thomas Stanford researchers accidentally discovered that iron nanoparticles invented for anemia treatment have another use: triggering the immune system's ability to destroy tumor cells.Iron nanoparticles can activate the immune system to attack cancer cells, according to a study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.The nanoparticles, which are commercially available as the injectable iron supplement ferumoxytol, are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat iron deficiency anemia.