Cancer Immunotherapy Drugs May Become Ineffective Due to Immune System Aging

Cancer Immunotherapy Drugs May Become Ineffective Due to Immune System Aging

Cancer Immunotherapy Drugs May Become Ineffective Due to Immune System Aging

• June 7, 2021
• Reading time 1 minute

A Kyoto University research team believes cancer patients' poor responses to immunotherapy drugs like Opdivo may result from immune system aging. Mouse experiments confirmed immunotherapy effectiveness loss due to immune aging, with the team suggesting future potential benefits for immunotherapy-resistant patients.

This research was conducted by the research team of Tasuku Honjo, a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipient at Kyoto University. Opdivo, developed from Professor Honjo's research, uses the immune system to attack cancer cells. However, many elderly patients respond poorly to this drug. The team researched immune aging, implanting cancer cells in older and younger mice, treating with Opdivo, and analyzing differences.

Results showed older mice had larger tumors with immune cells attacking foreign substances comprising less than half of younger mice's proportion. Implanting foreign human cells into older mice and strongly stimulating immune function increased attacking immune cells, suppressing tumor size to approximately one-sixth of untransplanted mice.

Based on research results, the team believed Opdivo may become ineffective due to immune aging. Researcher Yuka Nakajima suggested that improving immune system aging could help patients unresponsive to immunotherapy drugs.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/kansai-news/20210601/2000046492.html

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