Researchers Identify How Checkpoint Inhibitors Can Activate Tuberculosis Infection

Researchers have identified how new checkpoint inhibitor treatments for cancer can activate tuberculosis in some patients, according to the findings of a new study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Immune therapies for cancer are transforming treatment by activating the body’s immune cells to fight off cancer. Immune checkpoints are part of the human body’s immune system that prevent damaging inflammation, and checkpoint inhibitors are drugs used in immunotherapy to permit the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells.

In this study, researchers in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton used a 3-dimensional cell culture model to measure the effect of checkpoint inhibitors on the immune system’s ability to control the bacteria that causes tuberculosis disease. The team’s findings, reported in the latest edition of eLife, demonstrate that the addition of an immune checkpoint inhibitor, anti-PD1, led to an excessive immune response, which actually increased growth of the bacteria. The involvement of PD-1 in the natural immune response to TB infection in patients was demonstrated with long-term collaborators based at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), in Durban, South Africa.

https://twitter.com/thedextazlab/status/1231992988731138051

The group are currently aiming to establish a national register to capture the true incidence of this phenomenon and are developing the laboratory system to predict what other new cancer therapies may have a similar effect. The Southampton – Durban team was funded by an MRC Global Challenges Research Fund foundation award to establish sustainable research collaborations to address globally important diseases.

“This is an important emerging clinical phenomenon, and by understanding the process that leads to increased tuberculosis growth, we can identify existing treatments that could be used reduce severity of infection and permit continuation of the cancer treatment”, said Dr. Liku Tezera in a press release. Dr. Tezera, a senior research fellow at the University who led the project, added that: “This may improve outcomes when this surprising side-effect of emerging cancer immunotherapies occurs.”

Research identifies how new #cancer treatments can activate #tuberculosis infection @elife https://t.co/Xxg58LqVba

— Medical Xpress (@medical_xpress) February 24, 2020

Research identifies how new #cancer treatments can activate #tuberculosis infection @elife https://t.co/Xxg58LqVba

— Medical Xpress (@medical_xpress) February 24, 2020