Immune cells play a role in cancer treatment outcomes: Study

The immune systems of cancer patients may play a significant role in their treatment outcomes according to a study on TuesdayIn the study researchers at the University College London and the Francis Crick Institute found that cancer patients with a higher number of immune cells in their blood have a better survival rateThey used a pioneering technique Immune Lymphocyte Estimation from Nucleotide Sequencing ImmuneLENS which enables researchers to calculate the proportion of T cells and B cells types of immune cells from whole genome sequencing WGS dataThe team analysed over 90000 WGS samples both of healthy individuals and cancer patients The findings described in the journal Nature Genetics showed that cancer patients had a lower proportion of T cells circulating in the blood compared to healthy individualsFurther T cell proportion was found to be a strong predictor of cancer outcomes with higher proportions associated with 47 per cent fewer deaths over five years after surgeryThis effect was still significant when accounting for age cancer stage and across all cancer types biological markers which can be added to current genetic diagnostic tests to help clinicians with more information on which to base treatment plans said the researchersProfessor Nicholas McGranahan senior author of the study from UCL Cancer Institute said while most immune system analysis until now has focused on the tumour itself with the new tool doctors ldquomay be able to predict how long a cancer patient will survive better than the number of T cells in the tumour alonerdquoThe study also showed that in people with cancer particularly males the proportion of immune cells in the blood diminishes faster However the reason behind these sexual differences remains unclearThey also observed that individuals who were seemingly healthy at the time their sample was taken for sequencing who subsequently went on to develop cancer had belowaverage levels of B cells in their bloodThis could be because of undiagnosed earlystage cancer or precancerous changes to the immune system that could potentially have been an early sign of disease or even a factor in cancer developmentThis information could be used in the future for cancer early detection or to help clinicians understand how the patient may respond to treatment said the researchersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever