Lung cancer is the most common cancer in the world with 1.3 million new cases diagnosed every year. In the UK, it is the most common cause of death from cancer for both men and women, claiming over 36,000 lives each year.
A particular form of lung cancer, called small cell lung cancer (SCLC), accounts for 20 per cent of all lung tumours. Current treatments of SCLC have very limited success.
Our immune system protects us from harmful invaders and patrols the body looking for unusual cells to be destroyed, including cancer cells. However, previous studies have suggested that SCLC cells have the ability to evade the body’s immune system. This process also seems to make the cancer cells more resistant to chemotherapy. Little is understood about how these cancer cells achieve this, but the process helps SCLC cells to survive and thrive.
With BLF funding, Professor Sethi and his team investigated how SCLC cells evade our immune system. To do this they took samples of SCLC tissue from patients and studied how they affected immune cells in the laboratory.
The team showed that SCLC cells can indeed inhibit the function of several different cells of the immune system called ‘T cells’ and ‘macrophages’. It then investigated the mechanism involved. The results have implicated a molecule called Galectin-1, which is found on the surface of the cancer cells.
The next step is to understand more about the role of Gelactin-1 and other molecules that may be involved. This will help scientists to begin developing new ways of dealing with SCLC cells, by boosting the immune defence and helping enhance existing chemotherapy treatments.
Professor Sethi is an internationally renowned lung cancer researcher who leads a group investigating the regulation of growth and drug resistance in small cell lung cancer.
There are only a few groups investigating this subject worldwide, highlighting the importance of their work.
