Cancer Research UK researchers at the University of Birmingham have
found that certain genetic flaws in bowel cancer are more likely to
trigger an immune response at the site of tumors, meaning that
treatments to boost this immune response further could potentially be
helpful for these patients.
Finding out what’s happening in a cancer patient’s immune system can
be difficult and takes time. These findings suggest that genetic
profiles of patients’ tumors could be used as an easy and fast way of
diagnosing whether they are suitable for immunotherapy treatments, and
if so which ones.
Cancer Research UK’s FOCUS4 trial is already using the genetics of
bowel cancer to offer patients stratified medicine and this study
suggests that this could further expand the work to include
immunotherapies.
Gary Middleton, Professor of Medical Oncology at the School of Cancer
Sciences at the University of Birmingham, said: “The field of
immunotherapy is gaining lots of momentum and this study shows a new
finding for bowel cancer. We are already using genetic profiling for
stratified medicine in bowel cancer in the FOCUS4 trial. But this
research indicates that we could marry immunotherapy with the work we
are already doing to personalize treatment even more.”
Researchers used The Cancer Genomic Atlas, a large database, to study
this relationship. From this research, scientists can now start
looking at what causes a weak immune response and in the future, could
target drugs to switch off the immune suppression associated with
certain genetic mutations.
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