Cancer has been characterized as “a wound that does not heal,” a phrase the describes how, without support, the immune system is generally unable to mount an effective defense against a malignant, spreading tumor. As reported in an article from Breaking World Pharma News, ongoing research continues to confirm this reality, including a recent study which found that a critical molecule is capable of altering the function of immune cells so that they promote cancer cell proliferation instead of performing their original protective role.
Ongoing research into these immune cells that are affected by this mechanism is critical because targeting these cells could be a future route of cancer therapy, notes corresponding author Minsoo Kim, Ph.D., of the Wilmot Cancer Institute. The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The vital molecule that is capable of transforming the role of immune cells is platelet-activating factor (PAF). This molecule propagates cells that promote cancer growth and also shuts down the immune system’s ability to attack. The researchers found multiple types of cancer that rely on PAF for growth. As a result, a therapy that could interfere with the PAF growth mechanism could have a meaningful effect in multiple cancers.
Much of the research was focused on one of the deadliest cancer types: pancreatic cancer. If you’d like to learn more about this research study, you can read the full text of it here.
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Last modified: October 3, 2024
