IOR: promising breakthrough in prostate cancer therapy

Credits: Nicolò Bancaro. Created with mage.space The Molecular Oncology research group, led by Prof. Andrea Alimonti at the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI and member of Bios+), has discovered that prostate cancer cells hijacked the translation machinery to recruit immunosuppressive myeloid cells that aid in evading the immune system. The study, conducted by Daniela Brina, revealed that the blockade of the translation machinery inhibits the recruitment of immunosuppressive myeloid cells and improves the efficacy of conventional immunotherapy. The study is published in Nature cancer: '023 -00594-z Background. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are immune cells that suppress tumor anti-immune responses and promote tumor growth. In prostate cancer, MDSCs count correlates with tumor aggressiveness and is associated with a poor prognosis in many tumors. The main receptor on the surface of MDSCs, CXCR2, allows them to be recruited into tumors.