Breaching the Defence

Whether it’s a caterpillar constructing a cocoon or kids building a den, forming a protective environment around yourself is a good strategy. Unfortunately, cancer cells appear to know this trick too, and ovarian tumours protect themselves from many chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments. A new study has examined this defensive strategy, searching for potential weaknesses. Many immunotherapies aim to unleash the immune system by releasing natural molecular brakes called checkpoint receptors. The researchers discovered that in ovarian cancer tissue (pictured), a protein called focal-adhesion kinase (FAK, highlighted in green) regulates CD155 (red), a protein that binds to these receptors. Maintaining high levels of CD155 keeps immune cells (pink) at bay. Experiments that both subdued FAK and blocked the receptors increased the immune response to the cancer, resulting in smaller tumours and increasing survival, raising hopes that a similar strategy could help patients, who currently have very limited treatment options.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image from work by Duygu Ozmadenci and colleagues
• Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Moores University of California San Diego (UCSD) Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA, USA
• Image copyright held by original authors; image reproduction permitted by PNAS
• Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), April 2022