Stem-like T cells could aid immunotherapy in cancer treatment

Date:
September 3, 2021
Source:
Yale University
Summary:
Researchers show stem-like T cells within certain lymph nodes
could be natural cancer fighters.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In a new study by Yale Cancer Center, researchers show stem-like T cells
within certain lymph nodes could be natural cancer fighters. Targeting
these T cells, which are a type of white blood cells, with immunotherapy
drugs could increase the number of cancer patients that respond to
treatment. The findings were reported online today in the journal
Science Immunology.


========================================================================== "Therapies that use the immune system to destroy cancer have been a
game changer for patients with lung and other cancers," said Nikhil
Joshi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Immunobiology, a member of the
Center of Immuno-Oncology at Yale Cancer Center, and senior author of
the study. "But not all people respond to immunotherapy drugs, so it
was important for us to discover the role of these special T cells in
tumor growth." In this study, researchers first developed a new animal
model where they could look at the stem-like T cells in tumors over the
course of several months of tumor growth, and determine how the stem-like
T cells survive. They discovered the stem-like T cells do not persist in
the tumor for very long, which meant they are resupplied from somewhere
else in the body. Nearby lymph nodes, an immune organ containing many of
these stem-like T cells, were replenishing the supply. Every so often,
a few stem-like T cells leave the lymph node and travel to the tumor. This keeps the tumor supplied with fresh cancer fighting T cells.

Researchers believe this is important for slowing the growth of cancer. An analysis of immune cells isolated from patients with lung cancer confirmed
that stem-like T cells are in lymph nodes near the lung.

"T cells in tumors become exhausted, but our study results show the
stem-like T cells within the nearby lymph nodes do not experience
exhaustion during the course of disease," said Kelli A. Connolly,
a post-doctoral fellow at Yale Cancer Center and lead author of the
study. "This could be an important treatment advance as the potential to respond to immunotherapy is preserved." "We are focused on developing therapies that will activate the stem-like T cells in the nearby lymph
node and bring them into the fight against cancer," adds Joshi. "We plan
to continue this work and focus on how to improve these therapeutic
responses to help patients." Funding for the study was supported by
the American Lung Association, the National Cancer Institute, the Lung
Cancer Research Foundation, and the Yale SPORE in Lung Cancer.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Yale_University. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kelli A. Connolly, Manik Kuchroo, Aarthi Venkat, Achia Khatun,
Jiawei
Wang, Ivana William, Noah Hornick, Brittany Fitzgerald, Martina
Damo, Moujtaba Y. Kasmani, Can Cui, Eric Fagerberg, Isabel Monroy,
Amanda Hutchins, Julie F. Cheung, Gena G. Foster, Dylan L. Mariuzza,
Mursal Nader, Hongyu Zhao, Weiguo Cui, Smita Krishnaswamy, Nikhil
S. Joshi. A reservoir of stem-like CD8 T cells in the tumor-draining
lymph node preserves the ongoing anti-tumor immune response. Science
Immunology, 2021; DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abg7836 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210903095314.htm

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