Researchers Develop New One-Two Punch Against Melanoma in Mouse Model
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine, March 2019
Researchers at the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Johns Hopkins and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine report two new forms of an older anti-cancer agent they developed appear to enhance the immune system’s ability to fight melanoma in mice. The agents, dubbed s-DAB-IL-2 and s-DAB-IL-2(V6A), comprise a regulatory protein called human interleukin-2 fused to chemically modified portions of diphtheria toxin.
In a mouse model of melanoma, the two agents, when given together, depleted so-called T regulatory cells that infiltrate tumors and hinder the immune system’s ability to fight cancer, according to the researchers, whose published report on the experiments appears in the February issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The investigators said each of the compounds individually depleted the regulatory cells in the mice, but increased the depletion rate when used before an immunotherapy treatment known as checkpoint blockade, providing a one-two punch against cancer.