The Immune Response and Cancer Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, led by Francisco Ruiz Cabello, has demonstrated the role of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA-I) gene in cancer.
HLA-I molecules are key in the recognition of tumors and elimination mediated by T cells, which are part of the immune system, as the Table shows in a note about this research.
These molecules can be found on the surface of most cells in the body and are proteins that help the immune system find and destroy cells that are infected with cancer or viruses or bacteria.
However, cancer cells often lose HLA-I molecules, and the immune system cannot detect these abnormal cells and destroy them. As a result, tumor cells “evade the immune response, multiply in distant organs and form colonies and metastases.”
Thus, cancers that lose HLA class I molecules are more aggressive and do not respond well to treatment, including immunotherapy designed to activate the immune system to fight cancer.
If the cancer does not lose or replace its HAL-I molecules, which are natural to all human cells, it is possible for cells that are part of the human immune system to violently destroy cancerous or fragile cells.
In a recent review carried out by researchers Natalia Aptsiauri and Federico Garrido from ibs.Granada and Virgine de las Nieves University Hospitals, the relevance of detecting and correcting loss of tumor HLA-1 to improve cancer treatment in general is illustrated. outcome and develop an individualized protocol as part of personalized medicine.
There is growing evidence to suggest that the clinical efficacy of cancer immunotherapy is based on this ability to recover the HLA-1 antigen that stimulates the stimulation of tumor rejection mediated by the immune system, specifically by our own cells.
“Immune response and cancer” research group ibs.Granada, whose responsible researchers belong to the Clinical Analysis and Urology Services and the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology III and Immunology of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Granada, Its main objective is the analysis of the immune response in cancer, the role of leukocyte infiltration and immunophenotypic characteristics of tumor cells.
The research group identified the main escape mechanisms used by tumors (kidney, bladder, prostate and colon cancer) to evade the immune response. In particular, he identified those mechanisms that prevented antigenic recognition from cytotoxic immune effects.
The most relevant aspects have evaluated these deficiencies in various immunotherapy protocols and possible correction, through gene therapy strategies. The group is working with various European and American centers on the design of cancer vaccines.
