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IMAGE: A UT Southwestern study discovered the molecular mechanism by which tumors defective in DNA mismatch repair respond to immunotherapy. This illustration depicts how cells use a programmed mismatch repair deficiency-activated. view more
Credit: Illustration by Yipin Wu
DALLAS - Dec. 17, 2020 - DNA that ends up where it doesn t belong in cancer cells can unleash an immune response that makes tumors more susceptible to immunotherapy, the results of two UT Southwestern studies indicate. The findings, published online today in
Cancer Cell, suggest that delivering radiation - which triggers DNA release from cells - before immunotherapy could be an effective way to fight cancers that are challenging to treat.
Errant DNA triggers immune system response against cancer
DNA that ends up where it doesn t belong in cancer cells can unleash an immune response that makes tumors more susceptible to immunotherapy, the results of two UT Southwestern studies indicate. The findings, published online today in
Cancer Cell, suggest that delivering radiation - which triggers DNA release from cells - before immunotherapy could be an effective way to fight cancers that are challenging to treat.
Nearly a decade ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved checkpoint inhibitors, a type of immunotherapy that removes defenses that allow cancer cells to masquerade as healthy cells, prompting the immune system to attack them. In 2015, researchers showed that these therapies had particular promise for cancers prompted by defects in cells mismatch repair system, which proofreads DNA as it is copied. If this system is faulty, genetic mutations quickly build, spurring some cells to become malignant.
Breakthrough Prize Opens Public Nominations For Its 2022 Prizes In Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences & Mathematics Copyright 2021 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved
2020-12-14
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ The public nomination period for the 2022 Breakthrough Prizes in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences and Mathematics is now open. Nominations can be submitted online today through April 1, 2021. While self-nominations are prohibited, anyone may nominate another person. The nomination forms and rules are available at breakthroughprize.org.
For the 10th year, the Breakthrough Prize, recognized as the world s largest science prize, will honor top scientists, handing out three prizes in Life Sciences, one in Fundamental Physics and one in Mathematics. In the Life Sciences category, one of the three prizes is designated for work contributing to the understanding of Parkinson s disease or other neurodegenerative disorders. Each prize comes with a $3 million aw