Quote:
In one case, antibody treatment cured five mice injected with the same human breast cancer cells. When the tumor was gone, the treatment was discontinued; the mice were monitored for four months with no signs of recurrence.
“These results indicate that anti-CD47 antibodies can dramatically inhibit the growth of human solid tumors by blocking the ability of CD47 to transmit the ‘don’t-eat-me’ signal to macrophages,” concluded the authors.
“If the tumor was highly aggressive,” said Weissman, “the antibody also blocked metastasis. It’s becoming very clear that, in order for a cancer to survive in the body, it has to find some way to evade the cells of the innate immune system.” The innate immune system is the body’s first line of defense against pathogens like bacteria and viruses. Unlike the adaptive immunity conferred by antibodies and T cells that recognize and battle specific molecules, cells of the innate immune system, like macrophages, respond non-specifically to a variety of threats.
The researchers’ approach didn’t work in every animal, though. A set of mice with breast cancer cells from a one human patient experienced no benefit from antibody treatment. “There’s certainly more to learn,”
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So..cure in some BC, no effect in other BC? That is extreme. Such a tease to not reveal at least known differences between the cells used.
The bit about innate immune system reminds me of emerging
viral therapies including AIDS drugs in cancer.