B cells linked to immunotherapy for melanoma

Source:Medical Xpress , November 2019

Researchers at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute and the Medical University of Vienna have found evidence that B cells might play an important role in immunotherapy for melanoma. Currently, immunotherapy is primarily focused on T cells, but the results suggest that B cells could also provide an interesting research avenue.

Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to recognize and fight the disease. It comes in a variety of forms, including cancer vaccines, targeted antibodies or tumor-infecting viruses. Only some cancer patients currently benefit from this kind of therapy.

In the case of melanoma, which is a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer, established immunotherapies focus on T cells. T cells play an important role in controlling and shaping the immune system and they are able to directly kill cancer cells, while also recruiting other cells into the process.