Intestinal microbial effect even affect cancer immunotherapy

Checkpoint inhibitors are able to wake up the immune system fight tumors of new Fine Chemicals drugs for the treatment of cancer has a significant effect. However, some clinical results indicate that these drugs on the part of the patient and no effect. Recently two research articles on this inner mechanism was explained. The authors argue that this part of the patient's body microbial populations abnormal, and therefore can not normally generate an immune response.
This is the first time two studies flora and intestinal immune checkpoint inhibitors linked. Under normal circumstances, a number of immune cell surface receptors to limit its autologous tissue damage. However, the tumor tissue is also capable of activating these receptors, leading to specific immune cells can not recognize it and killing. Like ipilimumab and other immune checkpoint inhibitors are able to block tumor cell activation of these receptors and maintaining the immune cell activity.
The new study medication can change the way doctors. "These two articles prove that microbes can affect the treatment effect," Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases immunologist from the NIH's Yasmine Belkaid said. Researchers in the past have often focused on finding the gene mutation in patients, and thus explain why there are individual differences in immune checkpoint inhibitor drug treatment. Today's research indicates that in addition to these two genomes of microorganisms may also have the same effect.