Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum) and the Heidelberg University Hospitals have discovered that pancreatic cancer attracts regulatory T cells, which suppress the activity of immune cells.
In this way, the tumor might escape its destruction by the immune system.
The ability to discriminate between friend and foe or between “self“ and “foreign” is vital for a functioning immune system. There are numerous protective mechanisms at work to save the body’s own tissue from attacks by misguided immune cells. A pivotal role is played by regulatory T cells (Treg cells), which prevent immune reactions against the body’s own structures by suppressing the aggressiveness of particular immune cells called T helper cells.
Malignant tumors actively attract Treg cells and, thus, slow down immune defense to protect themselves against elimination. This is suggested by results just published by Associate Professor Dr. Philipp Beckhove jointly with colleagues from the German Cancer Research Center in collaboration with Professor Jürgen Weitz, Dr. Hubertus Schmitz-Winnenthal and other colleagues from the Heidelberg University Hospitals.
In tissue samples of pancreatic cancer the researchers found a much higher number of Treg cells than in samples obtained from regions of the organ that were not affected by cancer. For other immune cells, such as T helper cells, they found no such differences.