Study shows hope for immunotherapy as prostate cancer treatment
Researchers at University of Arizona Cancer Center used a double-pronged approach to reduce tumor growth in tissue samples of prostate cancer.
(From left) A research team led by Noel Warfel, PhD, and including doctoral candidate Caitlyn Flores published a paper in Cancer Immunology Research detailing a potential new therapy for prostate cancer.
A new study by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers found that an immunotherapy previously shown to be ineffective against prostate cancer may have therapeutic potential when combined with a synergistic treatment approach. The paper was published in the journal Cancer Immunology Research.
A research team led by U of A Cancer Center member Noel Warfel, PhD, identified a way to sensitize prostate tumors to immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of immunotherapy. They used a specific protein inhibitor to reprogram tumor-associated macrophages – white blood cells that are hijacked by cancer to suppress the killing of cancer cells instead of performing their usual role in working with T cells to fight disease.
The co-targeted therapeutic approach is a promising new area of cancer research, and this is the first time it has been tested for prostate cancer.
“When we look at the big picture and the collective data, we have solid evidence that this is a strategy that could improve the efficacy of immunotherapy in prostate cancer,” said Warfel, the study’s supervising author and an associate professor at the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson.