This can save over-treatment and unnecessary suffering. The results have been published in Cell Reports Medicine and also caught the attention of the local newspaper, Leidsch Dagblad.
Our immune system is capable of detecting and then clearing tumor cells. “This is done by so-called T cells,” says immunologist Ramon Arens. But with a trick, some of these tumors manage to inhibit T cells, allowing the tumor to grow undisturbed. An immunotherapy that removes this brake on T-cells offers a solution. “This is particularly effective in patients with cutaneous melanoma,” says Arens. “Yet half of the patients do not respond to this treatment, and it has unpleasant side effects. If we can predict which patients will respond to this therapy, we can save a lot of suffering.”