Tumours are full of tricks, but bypass the sniper immune cell combination therapy to kill the tumor with a two-pronged approach

High-grade serous carcinoma is one of the most aggressive types of ovarian cancer, and conventional treatments are still very limited

Tumor cells are sometimes so cunning that you may not have imagined how they have so many ways to evade the immune system

Among them, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is a common method used by cancer cells.

In theory, as long as the function of the IDO1 enzyme can be inhibited, the immune system function suppressed by the tumor can be restored

But strangely, some clinical trials have shown that the combination of EPA and immunotherapy is not as effective as scientists thought.

They speculated that when IDO1 was blocked, something unknown was happening in the tumor microenvironment

According to sample analysis, EPA is indeed able to block IDO1-mediated degradation of tryptophan

The increase in the level of NAD+ can also affect the anti-tumor ability of T cells.

▲After the emergence of EPA, the signal pathway of tryptophan degradation was blocked, but other metabolic pathways were activated (Image source: Reference [2])

To this end, Dr.

In a mouse model of ovarian cancer, the researchers used both EPA and purinoceptor antagonists, and the results greatly increased the proliferation of T cells, restoring their ability to kill tumors

Note: The original text has been deleted

References:

[1] New insights into how tumors metabolically adapt to their environment may lead to better cancer therapies.