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Tumor Immunotherapy

Tumor Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a treatment that boosts or manipulates the immune system to fight diseases, including cancer. For instance, by stimulating an immune response through vaccinations against viruses that cause cancers, like hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirus, these diseases can be prevented. Nonetheless, some cancer cells can avoid the immune system due to their rapid mutation and division. The immune response to many cancers involves three phases: elimination, equilibrium, and escape.

The Tumor Microenvironment

The Tumor Microenvironment

Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...

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Related Experiment Video

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Experimental Melanoma Immunotherapy Model Using Tumor Vaccination with a Hematopoietic Cytokine

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Downregulating testosterone levels enhance immunotherapy efficiency.

Luoyang Wang^1,2, Guoqiang Jiang^1,2, Nan Jing^1,2

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

|October 1, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Male patients respond better to immune checkpoint blockade therapy, potentially due to decreased sex hormones. Lowering testosterone levels in male mice enhanced anti-tumor efficacy, suggesting a new immunotherapy approach.

Keywords:

ANTI-PD-L1 Tumor immunotherapy immune checkpoint inhibitors sexual dimorphism testosterone

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Area of Science:

Oncology
Immunology
Endocrinology

Background:

Immune checkpoint blockade therapy, including anti-PD-L1, faces challenges with low response rates in specific tumor types.
Sexual dimorphism in treatment response suggests underlying biological differences, such as hormonal influences, warranting investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of sex on anti-PD-L1 treatment response in bladder cancer patients.
To explore sex-related changes, particularly sex hormone levels and gut microbiota, in response to anti-PD-L1 therapy in a murine model.
To evaluate strategies for enhancing immunotherapy efficacy by modulating sex hormone levels.

Main Methods:

Integrated biomarker evaluation of bladder cancer patients from the IMvigor210 cohort.
Analysis of sex-related changes in gut microbiota and sex hormone levels in male mice post anti-PD-L1 treatment.
Assessment of antitumor efficacy following castration and colistin treatment (to deregulate testosterone) in male mice with colon adenocarcinoma.

Main Results:

Male patients showed a better response to anti-PD-L1 treatment compared to females, with no pre-treatment sex differences observed.
Anti-PD-L1 treatment in male mice led to decreased sex hormone levels but did not significantly alter gut microbiota.
Castration and colistin administration significantly enhanced antitumor efficacy in male mice, indicating a role for testosterone.

Conclusions:

Decreased sex hormone levels in males may contribute to the observed sexual dimorphism in immune checkpoint blockade therapy response.
Modulating testosterone levels presents a promising strategy to enhance immunotherapy efficiency in male patients.