How An Antibody Helps The Immune System Reject Cancer

The human immune systems destroys the cancer cells in your body. Cancer vaccines, such as influenza or other diseases, help the immune system recongize proteins found on the surface of cancer cells. However, the immune system rarely can detect the vaccine, and this is why other stimulating anti-cancer immunity are needed. Researchers at Fox Chase Center have shown that an engineer antibody called DTA-1 led rejection of 50 to 60 percent of tumors in a mouse melanoma. The antibodies allow the immune system to over come its natural reluctance to attack the tumor cells. Despite the cancer vaccine, the vaccine alone is not enough to generate an effective immune response, a large part of it is because of the cancer. DTA-1 is used to repair regulatory T-cells, which is waking the immune system prescence of a cancer. Dr. Cohen from Fox Chase Center presented this at the American Association for Cancer Research in Denver, Colorado. DTA-1 is an antibody that stimulates glucocorticoid-induce tumor necrosis factor receptor (GITR), a protein that are on T-cells, including regulatory T-cells that supress immune function and effector T-cells that help carry out an immune response. DTA-1 was created by Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi at the Institute for Frontier Medical Science in Kyoto, Japan.  Studies have shown that that DTA-1 helps the immune system overcome its natural reluctance to attack tumor cells. Scientist are going to use this stragey for treating cancer.

This is interesting how researchers can change how the body's immune system is set-up.  Even more amazing how this could possibly save someones life. This would be really great if researchers could turn this into a vaccine and have it prevent cancer from entering the body at all.