Immunotherapy, a promising treatment for various cancers, has not been very effective in treating prostate cancer.
However, a recent study from Columbia University suggests that immunotherapy might have potential when prostate cancer starts to spread, particularly in metastatic tumors.
Published in Cancer Cell, the study revealed that metastatic prostate tumors have a diverse population of immune cells that could potentially be stimulated by immunotherapy to attack cancer cells.
Dr. Aleksandar Obradovic, one of the lead authors of the study, explained that although many of the right immune cells are present in metastatic prostate tumors, they are not naturally attacking the cancer.
This discovery challenges the common belief that prostate cancer is a “cold” tumor that goes unnoticed by the immune system.
The study involved a clinical trial of men with metastatic prostate cancer. Researchers found that combining hormone therapy with immunotherapy resulted in an influx of immune cells into the tumor microenvironment.
This combination approach showed promise in stimulating anti-tumor immune responses.
One of the primary goals of the study was to thoroughly profile the tumor microenvironment in untreated metastatic prostate cancers and observe changes when treated with chemo-hormonal therapy and immunotherapy.
The research was made possible by cutting-edge bioinformatics tools developed by the Columbia researchers.
These tools identified various types of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment, which were not distinguishable using standard techniques.
The study also found that specific subgroups of immune cells predicted poor treatment responses. For example, some patients had tumors with abundant T cells that produce TNF-alpha, a molecule known to suppress anti-tumor immune responses.
Patients with high levels of these cells had worse outcomes, suggesting that adding FDA-approved TNF alpha inhibitors to their treatment regimens could improve outcomes.
The Columbia researchers plan to conduct additional trials to test these ideas.
They are also continuing to analyze samples from patients at different stages of prostate cancer, from primary to late metastatic, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how the tumor microenvironment evolves.
If you care about prostate cancer, please read studies about 5 types of bacteria linked to aggressive prostate cancer, and new strategy to treat advanced prostate cancer.
For more information about prostate cancer, please see recent studies about new way to lower risk of prostate cancer spread, and results showing three-drug combo boosts survival in metastatic prostate cancer.
The research findings can be found in Cancer Cell.
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