Thymus transplantation for treatment of cancer: lessons from murine models

It is well known that tumor-bearing mammals, including humans, show decreased T-cell function due to involution of the thymus. This decrease results in faster tumor growth, susceptibility to infection and reduced life expectancy. Thus, the best strategy to restore T-cell function might be to transplant the thymus from the fetus or newborn. Based on this hypothesis, this article introduces our recent findings using mice and evidence is provided that, in humans, thymus transplantation in conjunction with bone marrow transplantation could become a valuable strategy for suppressing tumor growth, thereby prolonging survival.