"Immunity" new target for colon cancer immunotherapy

Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers

Our body can naturally remove cancer cells

Unfortunately, current immunotherapies are not effective against all types of cancer

How colon cancer hides the immune system

The inhibitory effect of immune cells is achieved through special signals on the surface of cancer cells

The researchers analyzed colon cancer samples and looked for signaling proteins that were present in tumor cells but not in healthy tissue

"We decided to block B7H3 and B7H4 in colon cancer cells," said Dr.

The scientists found that B7H3 and B7H4 were present not only in primary colon cancer tumors, but also in metastases from the liver

Out-of-control bacteria hamper immune response

The team describes an extensive cascade of events that allows colon cancer to develop its ability to block immune cells

"We found that cells in the tissue can detect the invading bacteria

The research team could show that using broad-spectrum antibiotics to destroy invading gut bacteria can also reduce tumor size and reduce the extent of liver metastases

One step closer to new colon cancer immunotherapy

The new study's findings come largely from studies in mice, but offer a promising outlook for future human cancer treatments

"We hope our work will form the basis for future new studies investigating the efficacy of B7H3 and B7H4 in human colon cancer," added Prof.

Microbiota-dependent activation of the myeloid calcineurin-NFAT pathway inhibits B7H3- and B7H4-dependent anti-tumor immunity in colorectal cancer.