When the immune system promotes tumor growth
Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 10:30
in Health & Medicine
The immune system plays an important role in the prevention of cancer. So-called Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells and responsible for the elimination of cancerous cells. Researchers have now discovered that NK cells can switch and promote tumor growth, with STAT5 acting as the key regulator. NK cells require active STAT5 to kill tumor cells; however, when STAT5 is absent or inhibited, NK cells do the opposite: they accelerate cancer progression by promoting angiogenesis. Drugs targeting STAT5 may therefore boost tumor growth.