A lie for salvation

A group of researchers from Yale University has developed a drug that stimulates immune cells to kill cancer cells in mice. It is effective against skin, colon, breast, pancreatic and other cancers both alone and in combination with existing cancer immunotherapy.

The researchers decided to find out whether a synthetic RNA molecule designed to fight viruses is also capable of triggering an immune response against tumors. RIG-I agonist, stem loop RNA 14 (SLR14) was created to activate a gene that detects viruses inside cells. If you simulate a viral infection inside cancer cells, you can trick the immune system and get rid of them.

To test this theory, the researchers tested several different approaches. They injected SLR14 directly into tumors in mice and observed the destruction of cancer by powerful T cells of the immune system. When they delivered therapy to one site of the tumor, the T-cell response occurred in another site, which proved a systemic effect.

Source: article in JEM.

In another experiment, they simulated cancer metastasis by spreading tumor cells throughout the body by injecting them into the left ventricle of the mouse heart. The results showed that SLR14 therapy in solid tumors blocked the growth of metastases.

Further studies have shown that SLR14 is comparable to existing drugs for cancer immunotherapy, and can also enhance their antitumor effect.

The researchers found that the therapy causes the formation of an immune memory that protects animals from relapses.

The next step in research will be to test the drug as monotherapy and in combination with other therapies in clinical trials.

Article by X. Jiang et al. Intratumoral delivery of RIG-I agonist SLR14 induces robust antitumor responses is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on Yale News: A Yale-developed drug shows promise as immune therapy for cancer.