iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
A study released on Tuesday, February 18, suggests that the immune systems of cancer patients may significantly influence their treatment outcomes.
Researchers at University College London and the Francis Crick Institute discovered that cancer patients with a higher number of immune cells in their blood tend to have better survival rates.
The study utilized an innovative technique called Immune Lymphocyte Estimation from Nucleotide Sequencing (ImmuneLENS), which allows researchers to calculate the proportion of T cells and B cells (immune cells) from whole genome sequencing (WGS) data.
The team analyzed over 90,000 WGS samples from both healthy individuals and cancer patients. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, revealed that cancer patients had fewer T cells circulating in their blood compared to healthy individuals. Moreover, a higher proportion of T cells was found to be a strong predictor of cancer outcomes, with patients showing a 47% reduction in death rates over five years after surgery.
This correlation remained significant even when accounting for factors such as age, cancer stage, and cancer type. These results suggest that immune cell proportions could be added to current genetic diagnostic tests, providing clinicians with more detailed information to help guide treatment decisions.
Professor Nicholas McGranahan, the senior author from UCL Cancer Institute, noted that while previous immune system research has mainly focused on the tumor itself, this new tool could enable doctors to predict a cancer patient’s survival more accurately based on T cell counts in the blood rather than just in the tumor.
The study also highlighted that in cancer patients, especially males, the proportion of immune cells in the blood decreases more rapidly.
However, the reasons for this gender difference remain unclear. Additionally, individuals who appeared healthy when their samples were taken but later developed cancer showed lower-than-average levels of B cells, which could indicate undiagnosed early-stage cancer or pre-cancerous changes in the immune system—potentially signaling early signs of disease or contributing to cancer development.
These insights could be valuable for early cancer detection and understanding how patients might respond to treatment, according to the researchers.
(Photo courtesy: IANS)
