'Unexpected' cancer treatment discovery touted by scientists

Los Angeles (dpa) – Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in the United States say they have pinpointed a type of "first responder" cell that can be targeted to bolster cancer treatments and have developed an antibody that helps the process. Two teams of researchers said they have found that myeloid cells "can be manipulated to enhance the activity of tumour-killing T cells" and in turn boost some immunotherapies that are the "standard of care for some cancers." Some of the treatments "do not have lasting effects" according to the teams, who are developing a clinical test for the enhanced cells. "Identifying the myeloid cell was an unexpected discovery," said the Mayo Clinic's Michelle Hsu, whose research was published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, a British Medical Journal publication. The teams explained that they aimed "to improve treatments that interfere with immunosuppressive proteins" and address a recycling process that puts the problem proteins "back in play" even after treatment. "Our study found the importance of the recycling process, and we present a way to address it," said Haidong Dong, another researcher at the Mayo Clinic. The team said in the paper that the antibody they developed "can provide a solution to the dearth of responses seen with current therapeutics" and could prove a "unique way to target and eliminate" a dangerous immunosuppressant. The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr coh

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