Roving blood cells that ‘hunt and wipe out’ cancer could stop disease spreading

ROVING white blood cells that hunt down cancer in different parts of the body could hold the key to tackling spreading tumours.

A study of breast cancer patients found that some of the immune system’s B cells remember how to spot cancer cells and travel round the body to find and destroy them.

Scientists hope they can multiply these super-cells in the lab and then inject them back into the patient to turbocharge their body’s ability to fight cancer naturally.

Study author Dr Stephen-John Sammut, from the Institute of Cancer Research, said: “Once cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it’s often much more difficult to treat. 

“Our research reveals that the immune response is not limited to the site where a tumour initially appears.

“The tool we have developed will allow us to zoom in and identify the B cells that have recognised cancer cells, as well as the antibodies they are producing. 

“This will allow us to develop antibody treatments similar to the ones the B cells produce, which can then be given as a personalised treatment to boost the immune system.”

This could develop immunotherapies that work in far more people than existing ones

Professor Kristian HelinThe Institute of Cancer Research in London, chief executive

An estimated 57,000 women in the UK are living with secondary breast cancer, which has spread to other parts of the body.

They often cannot be cured but have treatment to keep the disease at bay so they live longer.

In England about 40 per cent of cancers are diagnosed at stage three or four when they have started to spread around the body – around 82,000 in 2022.

Survival chances are lower and the NHS is aiming to get this figure below 25 per cent by 2028.

Treating cancers that have spread is harder but not impossible and the ICR discovery could improve immunotherapies capable of doing it.

The study found that some, but not all, B cells had changed their genetic information after learning to recognise cancer, meaning they remembered how to do it and how to produce the right antibodies to attack the cells when they found them.

Professor Kristian Helin, chief executive of the ICR, said: “Immunotherapies have transformed the outlook for a range of different cancers but unfortunately they still only work for a minority of patients.

“We need a greater understanding of how the immune system defends the body against cancer.

“Most research has focused on the role of T cells but this study provides a fascinating insight into the role of B cells.

“This could develop therapies which could work in far more people than most existing immunotherapies.”

The findings are published in Nature Immunology.