U of A researcher discovers a way to bring cancer-killing cells to bear against a certain type of colorectal cancer tumour.
Adrianna MacPherson - 04 October 2021
A University of Alberta researcher has discovered how two signalling molecules recruit immune cells known as “killer” T cells to a specific type of colon cancer with more favourable patient outcomes. The finding may represent a therapeutic strategy to target other types of cancers.
Kristi Baker, assistant professor in the Department of Oncology, examined tumours from patients with mismatch repair deficient colorectal cancer, a type that affects about 10 to 15 per cent of patients. While 85 per cent of colorectal cancers come from polyps, the mismatch repair deficient subset is developed through a different set of mutations.