New research suggests two-pronged approach may enhance effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors in some patients

Posted 30th June 2021

Research by a team including Professor Christian Ottensmeier, Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and Chair of Imnmuno-Oncology at the University of Liverpool, may explain why some cancer patients do not respond to a form of treatment known as checkpoint inhibitors.

The team from La Jolla Institute in California and the University of Liverpool found that these patients may have higher numbers of T follicular regulatory cells (Tfr cells) in their tumours. Tfr cells are an important part of the immune system but when someone has cancer they reduce the body’s ability to attack the cancer cells.

Anti-PD-1 immunotherapies – also known as checkpoint inhibitors – boost cancer-fighting T-cells but this won’t be as effective in someone who has high levels of Tfr cells.

In a paper published in Nature Immunology, Professor Ottensmeier and his colleagues suggest that giving these patients drugs to deplete Tfr cells before they receive checkpoint inhibitors may therefore be more effective at treating their cancer. The paper is published at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-00958-6.