PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Tumor-induced B cell changes reveal potential biomarker for treatment response in triple negative breast cancer

2024-09-12
(Press-News.org) HOUSTON – (Sept. 12, 2024) – Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions have discovered new insights into tumor-induced B cell changes in blood and bone marrow of triple negative breast cancer patients. The findings, published in Nature Cell Biology, show two distinct patterns of B cell abnormalities that could serve as blood biomarkers for determining likelihood of response to standard-of-care chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

“Even with significant advances in immunotherapy, only about 15 to 20% of patients with triple negative breast cancer will benefit from this treatment,” said corresponding author Dr. Xiang H.-F. Zhang, director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center and professor of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor. “My lab is trying to understand why some cancers do not respond to treatment by examining the crosstalk between the tumor and the body. Many systemic changes arise because of how the body responds to the cancer.”

A previous study from Zhang’s lab showed that even before tumor metastasis, breast cancer remotely induces changes to immune cell development in the bone marrow. Building on those findings, Zhang’s team examined changes in B cells from patient blood samples and identified three subgroups. The first group, TiBA-0, has no changes to B cells. The second group, TiBA-1, has a reduced number of B cells, likely due to competition with myeloid progenitors in the bone marrow microenvironment. The third group, TiBA-2, has an increased number of immature B cells, likely due to an excessive number of neutrophils preventing the B cells from maturing. In this group, immature B cells lead to an increase in exhausted T cells.

Researchers found that the B cell changes in both TiBA-1 and TiBA-2 types lead to an immunosuppressive effect and poorer response to treatment. In a study of 35 patients, 78.6% of TiBA-0 patients had a complete response to treatment with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, while only 33.3% of TiBA-1 and TiBA-2 patients had a complete response.

“These immune cell changes are not just happening locally inside the tumor. We see them systemically across the entire body, which means that we can identify these immune cell biomarkers with a simple blood draw,” said Zhang, William T. Butler, M.D., Endowed Chair for Distinguished Faculty and a McNair Scholar at Baylor. He also is a member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. “In the future, we may be able to stratify patients based on these biomarkers and determine which patients are less likely to respond to standard therapies and require additional treatment.”

Zhang’s team next will work with other researchers and clinicians at the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center to study the blood biomarkers in a larger patient group over multiple time points throughout treatment to learn more about how immune cells may change over time. His lab also is studying ways to reverse tumor-induced changes in bone marrow to restore normal production of immune cells.

Other contributors to this research include Xiaoxin Hao, Yichao Shen, Jun Liu, Angela Alexander, Ling Wu, Zhan Xu, Liqun Yu, Yang Gao, Fengshuo Liu, Hilda L. Chan, Che-Hsing Li, Yunfeng Ding, Weijie Zhang, David G. Edwards, Nan Chen, Azadeh Nasrazadani, Naoto T. Ueno and Bora Lim. The are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Zhejiang University and University of Hawai’i Cancer Center.

This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, National Cancer Institute, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, McNair Medical Institute, National Institutes of Health and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. See the publication for a full list of funding.

# # #

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Ehrapy: A new open-source tool for analyzing complex health data

Ehrapy: A new open-source tool for analyzing complex health data
2024-09-12
Ehrapy is intended to fill a critical gap in the analysis of health data, says Lukas Heumos, one of the main developers and a scientist at the Institute of Computational Biology at Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich (TUM): “Until now, there have been no standardized tools for systematically and efficiently analyzing diverse and complex medical data. We’ve changed that with ehrapy.” The team behind ehrapy comes from biomedical research and has extensive experience in analyzing complex scientific datasets. “The healthcare sector faces similar challenges in data analysis as ...

Ozone pollution reduces tropical forest growth

Ozone pollution reduces tropical forest growth
2024-09-12
Ozone gas is reducing the growth of tropical forests – leaving an estimated 290 million tonnes of carbon uncaptured each year, new research shows. The ozone layer in the stratosphere shields our planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation – and protecting it is one of the major successes of environmental action. But ozone at ground level – formed by the combination of pollutants from human activities in the presence of sunlight – interferes with plants’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Ozone is also harmful to human health. The new study, published in ...

Study finds doctors and patients interested in environmental impact of health care decisions

2024-09-12
BOSTON – Concerns about the environmental impact of healthcare decisions rarely enter into conversations between patients and physicians. However, evidence from a new study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, shows there's broad interest in changing that. In a series of focus groups conducted in different areas of the United States, doctors and patients expressed openness to considering environmental factors when discussing treatment options. The findings, presented in a paper published online today by Nature Climate Change, suggest that educating physicians about the environmental costs of treatment ...

Five key factors predict the response of cancer patients to immunotherapy

2024-09-12
Barcelona, 12 September 2024 – Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment in recent years by enabling the immune system to attack tumour cells. However, only 20-40% of patients respond positively to immunotherapy, and these rates vary across different types of cancer. Predicting which patients will respond to immunotherapy and which will not is currently a highly active area of research. Numerous studies conducted so far have focused on the specific characteristics of tumours, their microenvironment, or the patient's immune ...

Trilobite fossils from upstate New York reveal “extra” set of legs

Trilobite fossils from upstate New York reveal “extra” set of legs
2024-09-12
A new study finds that a trilobite species with exceptionally well-preserved fossils from upstate New York has an additional set of legs underneath its head. The research, led by the American Museum of Natural History and Nanjing University in China, suggests that having a fifth pair of head appendages might be more widespread among trilobites than once thought. Published today in the journal Palaeontology, the study helps researchers better understand how trilobite heads are segmented. Trilobites are ...

Big algebras: A dictionary of abstract math

Big algebras: A dictionary of abstract math
2024-09-12
Several fields of mathematics have developed in total isolation, using their own ‘undecipherable’ coded languages. In a new study published in PNAS, Tamás Hausel, professor of mathematics at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), presents “big algebras,” a two-way mathematical ‘dictionary’ between symmetry, algebra, and geometry, that could strengthen the connection between the distant worlds of quantum physics and number theory. Technical Toolkit: Symmetry and commutativity, from esthetics to functionality Symmetry is not just a question of esthetics and equilibrium, but also a highly recurrent feature throughout the domains ...

BMI’s relation to cancer therapy mortality risks not so straightforward

BMI’s relation to cancer therapy mortality risks not so straightforward
2024-09-12
While being overweight increases the risk of developing lifestyle-related diseases, there is a phenomenon known as the obesity paradox where a decreased risk of death has been seen during cancer therapy. However, that paradox might not be the trend for all cancer therapies, an Osaka Metropolitan University team reports in JAMA Network Open, a publication of the American Medical Association. Led by graduate student Mr. Yasutaka Ihara and Professor Ayumi Shintani of the Graduate School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Statistics, ...

Kids in families with too much screen time struggle with language skills

2024-09-12
Screens have become ubiquitous in our daily lives — which means they’ve also become part of children’s lives too. So what effect does this have on children’s developing brains, especially critical language skills? To understand this, scientists in Estonia surveyed the parents of more than 400 children about their screen use, their children’s screen use, and their children’s language skills. They found that parents who use screens a lot also have children who use screens a lot, and that children’s higher screen time is associated with poorer language skills.  “Our ...

Medical College of Georgia scientists searching for new treatment target for diabetic retinopathy

Medical College of Georgia scientists searching for new treatment target for diabetic retinopathy
2024-09-12
Scientists at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University are searching for a new treatment target for a common complication of diabetes that can cause retinal blood vessels to break down, leak, or become blocked. Diabetic retinopathy is a serious eye disease and a leading cause of blindness that results when diabetes’ sustained high blood sugar levels cause damage to the retina – the part of the eye that detects light – over time. That can happen in a number of ways, from inflammation to overgrowth ...

High doses of some prescription stimulants tied to increased psychosis risk

2024-09-12
Prescribing rates for stimulants that treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have increased significantly over the past decade, with some of the largest increases reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new study of adult emergency department admissions at Mass General Brigham, led by McLean Hospital researchers, found that individuals who are taking high doses of amphetamine (e.g. Adderall) face more than a five-fold increased risk for developing psychosis or mania. Findings were published September 12th in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Overall, individuals with past-month prescription amphetamine use had a greater likelihood of new-onset psychosis or mania ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Bushfire evacuation simulator wins prestigious US prize

Desert lichen offers new evidence for the possibility of life on other planets

Researchers reveal how brain amplifies perception of pain from multiple sources

The first “SpongeBooster of the Year” award celebrates efforts in wetland restoration

AI innovation at UBC Okanagan helps shipping ports see what’s coming—literally

Autoimmune disease linked to doubling in depression, anxiety, bipolar risks

Emotional demands and confrontation in person-contact roles linked to heightened type 2 diabetes risk

UK annual cost of dog walkers’ hand/wrist injuries estimated to top £23 million

The Lancet: Life-saving childhood vaccination coverage has stalled in recent decades, leaving millions of children at risk for deadly diseases

MD Anderson achieves sixth Magnet designation in recognition of nursing excellence

A unified theory of the mind

UTA powers smarter microgrids with new converter tech

US$53,000 essay competition asks: "How Quantum is Life?"

New combination therapy for rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting M6A methylation pathways

Editorial for the special issue on carbon capture, utilization, and storage

'A more versatile and powerful foundation for future photonic technologies'

World’s soft coral diversity retains signature of an ancient, vanished sea

Scientists use gene editing to correct harmful mitochondrial mutations in human cells

The evolution from reptile-like to upright posture in mammals was highly dynamic and complex

An evolutionary trade-off has limited how fish catch their prey

New viruses discovered in bat kidneys in Yunnan province

Head over heels

Drive to survive: The seemingly impossible reproduction of dogroses hinges on a centromere trick

Association for Molecular Pathology publishes best practice recommendations for clinical HRD testing

Bioplastic breakthrough: Sustainable cooling film could slash building energy use by 20% amid rising global temperatures

New methodology for 3D braiding machine design unveiled

Some cancer cells just won’t commit: Why that might be good news for neuroblastoma cancer patients

Strategic choices behind accounting standards unveiled in new study

New 3D modeling method quantifies light-shading impact of freshwater microalgae

USPSTF recommendation statement on screening for intimate partner violence and caregiver abuse of older or vulnerable adults

[Press-News.org] Tumor-induced B cell changes reveal potential biomarker for treatment response in triple negative breast cancer