Funded by the Prostate Cancer Foundation, researchers found evidence that immune cells harvested from prostate tissues could be activated to eliminate cancer cells. The breakthrough discovery could aid in future treatments of one of the most prolific cancers.
What is Prostate Cancer and its Recent Breakthroughs?
Prostate cancer begins when cells in the male prostate gland grow explicitly out of control. Although there are various forms of prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, other than skin cancer, it is the most common type of cancer for American men.
For 2021, they report roughly 240,000 new cases and about 34,000 deaths from prostate cancer. Roughly 1 in 8 American men is diagnosed during their lifetime. Prostate cancer is most likely to develop in older men and is the second leading cause of cancer death among male Americans after lung cancer.
Recently, a team of scientists discovered that prostate cancer develops in a way that turns off an RNA molecule that allows cancer cells to grow even more. When the team implanted mice with human prostate tumor specimens, a novel RNA treatment restored the long noncoding RNA, which has been hailed as a new strategy in comparing cancer and its drug resistance.
Activated MAIT Cells Eliminates Cancer Cells
The research conducted by Dr. Ellie-May Jarvis from the Malaghan Institute, Wellington, was published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, titled "Mucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) Cell Dysfunction and PD-1 Expression in Prostate Cancer: Implications for Immunotherapy." The researchers found that immune cells residing in prostate tissue known as MAIT cells, malfunction and have a high amount of PD-1 molecule on their surface.
When MAIT cells are activated with a Vitamin B variant, the molecule PD-1 is blocked, which results in anti-tumor activity that eliminates cancer cells. Dr. Robert Weinkove, researcher supervisor and clinical director at Malaghan Institute, says that immunotherapies that effectively treat prostate cancer are not yet a standard of care. Stating that most men will develop prostate cancer if they can live long enough. He adds that this form of cancer often grows slowly but can still drastically impact a person's quality of life. It is even more dangerous if cancer spreads to different parts of the patient's body, especially the bones.
As of now, the current prostate cancer treatments involve radiotherapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and testosterone inhibitors which can have severe side effects. Immunotherapies involve the patient's own immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. It is routine for some cancers, although it has not been highly effective for those struggling with prostate cancer.
Dr. Jarvis explains that her research involved experimental work using blood cells from both healthy and prostate cancer people in the lab. Although the recent discovery is groundbreaking, she states that more work needs to be undertaken to fully understand its application in clinical trials, emphasizing that the procedure shows promise as a stepping stone to treatments for cancer. She adds that she and other New Zealand researchers and internationally are exploring more avenues in immunotherapies activating MAIT cells, reports RNZ News.
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