A new approach to cancer treatment, developed by researchers from Prof. Yardena Samuels’ lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science, increases the number of the immune system’s targets by manipulating cancer cells into exposing themselves via disrupted protein production.
“In our new study, we decided to investigate whether we could increase the number of targets for identifying and destroying cancer cells by intentionally interfering with the translation process,” says Prof. Samuels.
The next stage of the study examined whether disrupting the translation process in melanoma tumors would cause them to start triggering an effective immune response. When the process was carried out in mice, the population of killer T cells did increase significantly; however, by the time they reached the cancerous tumor, they were too “exhausted” to eradicate the cancer.
The researchers hypothesized that, if they could combine existing treatments with this new approach, the immune system would be able to fight tumors more effectively. “An existing type of immunotherapy that was not at all effective against the kind of melanoma we tested suddenly became very effective when tested in mouse models after the translation process in the mice’s cancer cells was disrupted,” says Samuels. “This combined treatment managed to eradicate or greatly reduce the tumor in around 40 percent of the mice.”
These findings could lead to new cancer treatments in the future, but they could also have a more immediate impact. “Finding a new predictive measure for the effectiveness of immunotherapy will allow doctors to offer the treatment to patients who, until now, were not candidates,” Samuels explains.
Apart from the clinical advances, the study also offers a completely new approach to treating cancer. “This is proof of feasibility, showing that deliberately disrupting the translation mechanism enhances the immune response against cancer cells,” says Samuels. “In addition, since the translation process is the same in different cell types, any treatment that successfully manages to disrupt this process in one type of cancer cell could be effective against many other types of cancer. We are already examining the possibility of disrupting the translation process in cancers of the breast and pancreas, as well as in colorectal cancer.”