Giving the immune system a double boost against cancer
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory (CSHL) have completed an early phase clinical trial of a drug called plerixafor showing that it induces an integrated immune response in the tumours of patients with cancer types that do not usually respond to immunotherapy. The results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences mean that the researchers hope the potential treatment might make such tumours more responsive to the class of drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Professor Duncan Jodrell, who led the planning and patient recruitment for the clinical study and co-leads the CRUK Cambridge Centre Pancreatic Cancer Programme, said: "I am delighted that the work of this multi-disciplinary team has translated important laboratory findings into patients, with the potential to make a difference in these hard to treat cancers."