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The University of Southampton
Medicine

New study to give insight into how tumours evade immune system

Published: 25 May 2018
cancer
New cancer immunotherapy study

A new study at the University of Southampton is to investigate how and why an amino acid molecule, produced by solid tumours, stops the immune system from finding and destroying cancer.

New cancer immunotherapy drugs are having an impressive degree of success, but some are only benefiting a small number of patients and can have side effects. A possible reason for this is that tumors evade the immune system by suppressing it.

Dr Yury Bogdanov, who is based at the new Centre for Cancer Immunology, received the CRUK Pioneer Award worth £200,000, which will allow his team to analyze the impact of the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) that is found in cancers of the colon, gastric area, pancreas, ovary and breast.

GABA is a major inhibitory signalling molecule in the central nervous system. A variety of drugs modulating GABAergic signalling has been approved for clinical use to treat neurological conditions. New data also point to GABA as a potential suppressor of the immune system and is believed to be produced by some tumours to protect them from attack.

The Southampton study aims to determine exactly where GABA is produced in tumours, where it targets the immune system and how it suppresses it. Dr Bogdanov and his team will use this information to re-purpose or create novel drugs to target it.

He said: “Cancer affects so many people and is a devastating disease. Immunotherapy offers an exciting new avenue of treatment, but only helping small numbers of patients. We want to find out why and how GABA can prevent the immune system from doing what it is supposed to do – find and fight cancer. Ultimately, this research could improve immunotherapy, and lead to improved outcomes for patients with a wide range of cancers.”

 

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