On average, patients live less than two years after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. In a new study, scientists have found for the first time islands of immune cells in the skulls of people battling the tumor. The discovery, published in the journal Nature Medicinewill help find new treatments for brain cancer.
Scientists analyzed bone marrow tissue samples from glioblastoma patients. They found many immune cells near the tumor that can recognize and destroy cancer. Descendants of these cells were also found in the tumor itself.
The discovery means that immune cells accumulate in the bone marrow near the glioblastoma and then enter it. The work could form the basis of a revolutionary treatment for brain cancer. For example, immunotherapy drugs, checkpoint inhibitors, could be delivered directly to the bone marrow of the skull. Routine administration of these drugs has been ineffective in treating glioblastoma.
“What we discovered is surprising and fundamentally new. Until now, the body’s own defenses have always been thought of as an integrated system that sends its troops to different parts of the body when necessary. However, our data show that highly effective immune cells gather in regional niches in the bone marrow near the tumor and organize the protection from there,” says scientist Björn Scheffler.
Russians before It has been saidHow the anti-cancer drug works with 100% effectiveness.