Researchers at the Krummel’s Lab., UCSF, recently report that newly discovered population of immune cells in tumors is related to less severe cancer outcomes in humans, and may have therapeutic potential based on the study of 3,600 human tumors, as well as mouse experiments. The finding is published in the journal Cancer Cell.

They depleted the population of these already rare cells in mice and demonstrated that the immune system was then unable to control tumors, even when the mice were given immunotherapeutic treatments.

A rare cell type, present in most tumors, is found to confer immunity and thus assists in immune rejection of the tumor. The cells persist in trying to activate tumor-targeting T lymphocytes within the immune system, thereby strengthening anticancer effects.

Additionally, the researchers found specific molecules on the cells that serve as a signature for their identification, and molecules that might be targeted to boost the cells’ power to activate T lymphocytes.

As indicated from this study, patients who have antigen-presenting CD103+ dendritic cells live consistently longer than those with weak signatures. The association of the signature for such immune cells with better outcomes was especially strong in head and neck cancers and in breast cancers

Reference: 

Dissecting the Tumor Myeloid Compartment Reveals Rare Activating Antigen-Presenting Cells Critical for T Cell Immunity. Cancer Cell, 2014