How does cancer cells “drag down” the immune system?
Recently, scientists from the United Kingdom found a molecule that can destroy the key energy sources of the body’s immune cells in children’s nerve female cell tumor cells. Due to the role of this molecule, the body’s immune system was gradually “dragged in the process of fighting cancer cells. The latest research was published on the international academic journal Cancer Research.
Children’s nerve maternal cytoma is a rare child cancer that can affect the nerve cells of children. About 90 patients in the UK are diagnosed with neuroblastoma, most of which are younger children who are younger than 5 years old. Finding the treatment of neuroblastoma is of great significance to save the life of children.
In this study, scientists discovered that children’s nerve female cell tumor cells can synthesize a molecule and destroy arginine, and arginine is an important raw material for protein synthesis. It is also a key source of energy for immune cells. This molecular synthesis of cancer cells is a kind of arginine enzyme, which can significantly decrease the level of arginine in the area around the tumor. Once the body’s immune cells approach the tumor cells, the lack of energy will make them “weak” “weakness” And inefficient.
Previous studies have found that there is a molecular surface that can be distinguished from normal healthy cells on the surface of neurological female cell tumor cells. Therefore, people once thought that “training” of immune cells can be “trained” to identify and destroy cancer cells. However, this study may explain why the early efforts made on the road to destroying neuromuscal tumor cells using the immune system have not succeeded.
Researchers point out that after a deep understanding of the important role of arginine, we may use this discovery to activate the immune system to attack cancer cells, but now how to use arginine to develop new drugs for neuroblastoma and improve to improve and improve The efficiency of immunotherapy treatment still has a lot of challenges.
Scientists also need to make more efforts in the development and treatment of children’s neurocytoma.
