Targeting historic infections in DNA could boost cancer treatment

Remnants of ancient retroviruses passed down in our DNA could be an effective target for antibodies against lung cancer, according to a new study by researchers at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute. The research, published in Nature and part-funded by Cancer Research UK, could improve our understanding of why patients respond differently to immunotherapy treatments - allowing the therapies to be improved for the future. One type of immunotherapy, known as checkpoint inhibitors, is sometimes given to people with lung cancer to block to proteins that prevent the immune system from attacking tumours. But it can be difficult to predict which patients will respond to this type of treatment. The research team wanted to investigate the link between better responses to immunotherapy and the presence of antibody-producing B cells around the perimeter of a tumour. They investigated immune cell activity in mice with lung cancer alongside tumour samples from people with lung cancer collected as part of the Cancer Research UK funded TRACERx study. They found that B cells contribute to the immune response to lung cancer through the production of tumour-binding antibodies, in a similar way to how B cells produce anti-viral antibodies following flu or SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.