Cancer cells send "unmanned aerial vehicles" to fight the immune system August 10, 2018 Source: Guangzhou Daily Chinese and American researchers have found that cancer cells can send "unmanned aerial vehicles" to fight the immune system. This mechanism is expected to provide a new way to judge whether anti-cancer immunotherapy is effective. A study published in the British journal Nature on the 8th showed that cancer cells can release a kind of vesicle called "exosome" into the blood, which can precisely hit the human immune system like a "UAV". This vesicle, which is less than one percent smaller than red blood cells, is encapsulated by lipids and contains a substance, PD-L1. The researchers said that when PD-L1 binds to programmed cell death protein-1 on the surface of T cells, it suppresses the immune response of T cells and blocks the function of T cells to attack cancer cells. The "checkpoint inhibitors" currently used for anti-cancer immunotherapy are expected to block this binding, thereby activating the anti-cancer function of T cells. Co-author of the paper, Professor Guo Biao of the University of Pennsylvania, said that this immunotherapy can be used to treat metastatic melanoma, but only for 30% of patients. By finding a biomarker in the blood, it is possible to determine early on which patients to use the therapy. Malignant melanoma is the most common form of skin cancer. The team found that PD-L1 is present in the exosomes of melanoma cells, which directly inhibits the anti-cancer function of T cells. A cancer cell secretes multiple exosomes, so it can highly effectively inhibit the body's ability to fight cancer. Researchers say that changes in PD-L1 levels in exosomes in the blood can reflect the "war" of cancer cells and T cells, which can be used to assess the effectiveness of "checkpoint inhibitor" therapies. Guo Wei said that in the future, cancer is expected to be managed as a chronic disease, which can be adjusted by monitoring the level of PD-L1 in the blood circulation system, just like monitoring blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. (According to Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Zhou) E.N.T Instruments,Otoscope Instrument,Laryngoscope Set,Therapeutice Equipment ZHEJIANG SHENDASIAO MEDICAL INSTRUMENT CO.,LTD. , https://www.shendasiaomed.com