How melanoma manipulates its way to metastasis A growth factor secreted by melanoma cells makes the immune system ignore metastasis
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ertain cancers can take control of elements of the body’s immune system, tricking immune cells into favouring the growth of cancer cells rather than attacking and destroying them. The deadliness of melanoma comes from its ability to metastasize rapidly to other organs if it is not treated early, and a new study indicates this process may involve manipulation of the immune system. A certain proportion of melanoma patients do not respond to immune checkpoint blockade therapy, suggesting that their immune system may be hijacked by melanoma cells. Now, María Soengas and her colleagues at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) in Madrid, Spain, have shown that a growth factor protein called midkine (MDK), which is secreted by melanoma cells, manipulates the immune system
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June 2021
