Braunschweig. Despite modern immunotherapies and existing medications, patients with lung cancer often develop resistance to treatments. In order to close this gap, an international team, including Thekla Cordes, Professor of Cell Metabolism at the Technical University of Braunschweig at the Braunschweig Center for Systems Biology (BRICS) and Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), explored potential starting points for cancer therapies. The TU Braunschweig reports about this in a press release.
In their research, the interdisciplinary team, which also includes researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (USA) and Yale University School (USA), discovered that lung adenocarcinoma uses a sophisticated mechanism to promote the growth of cancer cells . Immune cells in the lung tissue are exploited and put into their service.
Immune cells are reprogrammed by cancer
Normally, these immune cells, called macrophages, are responsible for removing pathogens during infections. However, these macrophages are manipulated by the cancer cells and reprogrammed so that they serve as fuel suppliers for cancer cells. This fuel consists in particular of lipids, which are necessary for the growth of cancer cells.
Thekla Cordes, one of the researchers involved, was able to use mass spectrometry and tracing experiments to illustrate how the metabolism of alveolar macrophages is affected in lung cancer and emphasizes the importance of this discovery: “The team has discovered an innovative approach through which lung cancer cells actively stimulate their… “Manipulating the local environment and the metabolism of immune cells. In this way, the cancer cells stimulate their own growth. The tumor cells use these selfish hijacking mechanisms, which we could influence in the future with effective cancer therapies.”
Can take years
Nevertheless, Prof. Thekla Cordes warns against excessive expectations. “The path from an effective mechanism to a therapy or an active ingredient is a very long one. Many further studies are still necessary. It can be assumed that such development processes will last for several years and no statement can be made as to whether and when a therapy or an The active ingredient will be approved and available on the market.”
The research results were published in the research magazine “Cancer Discovery”.
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