Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; a section labeled fluorescently left) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC; right) are both common skin cancers but differ in their responses to immunotherapy (drugs that promote the immune system to clear the cancer cells). This study finds that BCC's reduced likelihood of responding is due to having, compared to SCC, less of the molecule HLA-1 (revealed here with green fluorescence), which in turn leads to fewer of the immune system's T cells being attracted to the tumour to attack. Finding that the epigenetic regulator FOXC1 underlies the low levels of HLA-1, opens therapeutic avenues
Read the published research article here
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