Scientists are turning cold melanoma and breast tumors into hot ones using locally delivered interlukin-12.
https://newatlas.com/medical/cancer-treatment-inflames-cold-tumors-immunotherapy/
“The researchers put this delivery system to the test in mouse models of aggressive breast cancer and several types of melanoma. After attaching IL-12 to the blood protein, injecting it intravenously and then using it in combination with checkpoint inhibitor therapy, the protein found its way to the tumor and successfully released the drugs, inflaming the tumor and turning it from a cold one into a hot one.
This method worked so well on the breast cancer that it disappeared completely following the treatment, and in the case of the melanomas, caused many of them to regress and lead to prolonged survival of the mice.
“These positive results are in tumors where checkpoint inhibitors normally don’t do anything at all,” says study co-author Jeffrey Hubbell. “We expected this therapy to work well, but just how well it worked was surprising and encouraging.”
A big advantage of the approach was the huge reduction in toxicity, with the targeted technique making the IL-12 therapy two thirds less toxic than it would otherwise be. The researchers will now continue working to reduce this toxicity even further and edge the therapy towards clinical trials.
“Once we have a way to make a cold tumor hot, the possibilities for cancer treatment are endless,” Hubbell says.
The research was published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
Source: University of Chicago
Hopefully, it especially works on those resistant tumors.
Melanie
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