New research directed by Irish scientists has discovered how the liquid rich in lipids in the abdomen, known as ascites, plays a central role in weakening the immune response of the body in advanced ovary cancer. The findings offer new ideas about immune suppression in ovarian cancer and open promising roads for future immunotherapy approaches.
More than 70% of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed in an advanced stage, often presenting large volumes of ascites. This ascitic fluid not only supports the spread of cancer throughout the abdominal cavity, but also significantly harms immune defenses of the body. Understanding how ascites affects the immune system is important to develop better treatments that use the immune system to combat cancer.
In this recent study, Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin researchers explored how ascites interrupts the function of immune cells, with a particular approach in the cells and cells of natural murderer (NK), which are key actors in the body’s ability to eliminate tumors.
When analyzing the content of the ascitic fluid of patients with ovarian cancer, the equipment identified a group of fat molecules called phospholipids as key drivers of this immune dysfunction.
Dr. Karen Slattery, a researcher at the Trinity Translational Institute of Medicine, is the first author of the Research article recently published in Leadered International Journal Scientific immunology. She said: “We discovered that these lipids interfere with the metabolism of NK cells and suppress their ability to kill cancer cells. Crucially, we also discover that blocking the absorption of these phospholipids in NK cells using a specific receptor blocker can restore its antitumor activity, which offers a new objective that includes the therapeutic intervention.”
“This work adds a critical piece to the puzzle of why ovarian cancer is so aggressive and has such bad results. Although the immune system is naturally equipped to detect and destroy cancer cells, this function goes out in many people with ovarian cancer, and now we know that this is partly due to the environment rich in fat created by ascites.”
Professor Lydia Lynch, previously based in Trinity and now at Princeton University, is the main author of the research article. She said: “This study marks a significant advance in ovarian cancer research, identifying a new mechanism that supports immune insufficiency and establishes the basis for new therapies that could restore immune function in these patients. By pointing to the suppression induced by the fat of immune cells, future treatments could empower immune defenses of the body to fight against the fight against Patients with ovarian cancer. “