Bringing natural killer cells to the tumor battlefield

(Luxembourg Institute of Health) By studying melanoma, a highly malignant form of skin cancer, Dr Bassam Janji's research team at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) has revealed a mechanism by which the immunosuppressive environment can be switched to an immunosupportive one. They found that if autophagy -- the intracellular recycling process -- is blocked in tumor cells, they produce cytokines that attract NK cells. The massive recruitment of NK cells allows killing cancer cells and lets the tumors shrink.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news