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SUPERANTIGENS UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences researchers publish major study on tumor-destroying option for cancer patients using “superantigens.”
A team of researchers at UND’s School of Medicine & Health
Patient, heal thyself
Sciences might just have revolutionized the treatment of solid
Superantigens are a class of bacterial-based antigens that
tumor cancers.
induce an “overactivation” of the body’s immune system.
As reported in the prestigious Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer, a team led by Department of Biomedical Sciences professor David S. Bradley, Ph.D., and David S. Terman, M.D., an adjunct professor with the School, identified two new
known as T-lymphocytes or T-cells that help the body generate the inflammatory response that fights infectious organisms and cancer.
members of the “superantigen” family that, when combined
“Previous superantigens deployed in clinical trials of patients
with a common “helper” molecule, showed significantly higher
with advanced cancer failed to reach their potential largely
cure rates in and long-term survival of animals with solid
due to their excessive toxicity and the widespread presence
tumors compared to other immunotherapeutic agents now
of neutralizing antibodies in human blood that blocked the
deployed clinically. “Immunotherapy has completely revolutionized the management of the most treatment-resistant human tumors
superantigens from exerting their tumor killing function,” Terman continued. “Unlike their earlier relatives, our new superantigens showed a low incidence of such disabling antibodies.”
such as melanoma, lung, breast, and colon cancer,” said
Terman further explained that he and Bradley were able to
Terman of using the human immune system itself as an anti-
eradicate the toxicity noted with other superantigens by
cancer catalyst. “Here, we discovered two new superantigens
combining the new superantigens with a partner molecule
that unlike others used before them kill advanced tumors in
known as HLA-DQ8.
transgenic mice without attendant toxicity.” 24
Specifically, superantigens trigger the white blood cells
North Dakota Medicine Spring 2021
