Immune Messengers Are Crucial For Immune Response Against Cancer
The body’s own defense mechanisms are effective against breast cancer / Heidelberg researchers have published their results in "Cancer Research"
Joint Press Release of Heidelberg University Hospitals and the German Cancer Research Center
Microscopic section image of bone marrow of a breast cancer patient: Tumor-specific T cells (red) are activated by dendritic cells (black).
© dkfz.de
The onset and spread of cancer depends, among other things, on the body’s own immune defense. A collaborative research team of the University Women’s Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum) in Heidelberg have studied breast tumors and have identified two immune messenger molecules which play an important role in activating immune cells against cancer. If activated immune cells can be detected, the prognosis improves. These results have been published in the specialist journal “Cancer Research”.
It has been known for some time that the body is able to mount an immune response against tumor cells and that this has a positive effect on the course of breast cancer or bowel cancer. It has even been established in the test tube that a particular type of immune cells (T cells) which are directed specifically against the tumor is capable of completely destroying tumor cells. However, scientists have not yet determined under which conditions the body is able to form active tumor-specific T cells and how these influence the further course of disease.
Tumor-specific T cells improve the prognosis
A research team headed by Dr. Christoph Domschke and Dr. Florian Schütz (University Women’s Hospital, Heidelberg) and Associate Professor (PD) Dr. Philipp Beckhove, head of the working group “Translational Immunology” at DKFZ has studied 207 breast cancer patients. They found out that the disease takes a more favorable course and is associated with a lower mortality risk if tumor-specific T cells are found in the bone marrow. Activation of these cells, however, depends on many factors.
Messengers influence immune response
The researchers studied the level of 27 different immune messenger molecules (cytokines) and growth factors in breast cancer samples. “In particular, we were able to show that the composition of immune messengers in a tumor is crucial for a functioning immune response in the bone marrow,” Dr. Christoph Domschke said. Before the bone marrow can form immune cells, it needs to be told by what are called dendritic cells that there are cancer cells in the body and what their specific characteristic is. “However, these dendritic cells only induce an effective immune response, if the tumor tissue reveals a specific composition of cytokines. What is needed are high levels of interferon alpha and, at the same time, low levels of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFß1),” Domschke says.
“Our results suggest that a functioning immune response is relevant for the prognosis of breast cancer,” explains Philipp Beckhove, who leads the study. Therefore, the levels of immune messenger molecules in a tumor need to be taken into account when planning future individualized immune therapies against breast cancer.
Intratumoral Cytokines and Tumor Cell Biology Determine Spontaneous Breast Cancer-Specific Immune Responses and Their Correlation to Prognosis.
Christoph Domschke, Florian Schuetz, Yingzi Ge, Tobias Seibel, Christine Falk, Benedikt Brors, Israel Vlodavsky, Nora Sommerfeldt, Hans-Peter Sinn, Marie-Christine Kühnle, Andreas Schneeweiss, Alexander Scharf, Christof Sohn, Volker Schirrmacher, Gerhard Moldenhauer, Frank Momburg, Philipp Beckhove, Cancer Research 2009; 69(21): 8420-8428.
Contact person:
Dr. med. Christoph W. Domschke
Universitäts-Frauenklinik Heidelberg
Vossstraße 9
D-69115 Heidelberg
Phone: ++49 (0)6221 - 56 37 330
Fax: ++49 (0)6221 - 56 52 33
Email: christoph.domschke@med.uni-heidelberg.de
With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.
To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.
