PD-1 antibody "new helper" - BMI1 inhibitor.

Wen-Li Yuan head and neck cancer is a class of cancer, including throat cancer, oral cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, thyroid cancer and so on.
type of squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck is one of the most common, with low five-year survival, poor prognosticity and high invasiveness.
In a study published July 21 in Cell Stem Cell, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and The College of Dentists found that using PD-1 antibodies in combination with the BMI1 protein inhibitor PTC209 could successfully stop the growth and spread of cancer cells, prevent cancer recurrence and eliminate cancer stem cells.
this is the first preclinical study to confirm that targeting BMI1 can enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy and eliminate cancer stem cells by activating anti-tumor immunity.
photo source: Cell Stem Cell PD-1 antibody immunotherapy has changed the way many patients with resoicable cancer are treated.
Previous diagnoses of relapsed or metastatic head and neck cancer amounted to the death penalty for a patient's life, and the approval of PD-1 antibody combination chemotherapy for treatment of such diseases provided patients with another treatment option, but the response rate of this combination therapy was not very high and the response time was relatively short, indicating that relapse or metastatic head and neck cancer may be resistant to PD-1 antibodies.
growing body of research suggests that cancer stem cells may be the cause of this drug resistance and cancer recurrence, and that targeting cancer stem cells may be critical to improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy and preventing tumor recurrence.
has found that BMI1 controls the self-renewal of cancer stem cells, and BMI1 also plays a role in a variety of cancers, including head and neck cancer.
to overcome resistance to immunotherapy, researchers have been exploring the role of cancer stem cells and BMI1 proteins.
In this preclinical study, the team used a mouse model of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that fully simulates the development and metastasis of human cancer, allowing researchers to track the genealogy of BMI1-positive cancer stem cells in an undisturbed tumor immune microencase.
researchers tested a combination of PD-1 blocking and BMI1 pharmacology and genetic inhibition in this model, and the results showed that inhibiting BMI1 not only helped eliminate BMI1 cancer stem cells, but also enhanced PD-1 blocking by activating the intrinsic immunity of tumor cells, thereby inhibiting the growth of metastases and preventing tumor recurrence.
: Cell Stem Cell Many patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated with PD-1 antibodies and chemotherapy eventually develop cancer recurrence and develop resistance to the treatment.
scientists believe that this preclinical study reveals the potential of BMI1 inhibitors to overcome immunotherapy resistance and provides an important basis for the development of new combination therapies based on PD1 antibodies and BMI1 inhibitors.
that the world's fastest-growing BMI1 inhibitor project (PTC Therapeutics' PTC596) is in clinical development.
reference: 1 s what are cancers of the head and neck? (Source: National Cancer Institute) 2 slingfei Jia et al. BMI1 resion eliminates residual cancer stem cells after PD1 blockade and activates antitumor immunity to prevent metastasis and relapse. Cell Stem Cell (2020)3 s researchers ID new target in drive to improve the course for cancer (Source: Medical Xpress)