Drug enhances immune system to kill cancer cells

Southampton researchers, including those at the Centre for Cancer Immunology, have discovered added benefits from using a drug called selinexor to treat cancer

Boosting patients’ immune defences

Selinexor has recently been approved to treat patients with blood cancers, and works by blocking proteins involved in cancer-cell growth.

In a new study, published in Frontiers in Oncology, the Southampton team showed the drug also boosts natural killer (NK) cells, and allows them to kill cancer cells much more effectively.

NK cells are able to directly kill cancer in the body and stimulate other cells in the immune system to help attack the cancer.

Improving outcomes for cancer patients

Dr Matthew Blunt, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton and lead for the study, said: “NK cell-based therapeutics are an important emerging area of immunotherapy. However, NK cell dysfunction is a frequent occurrence in cancer.

“Strategies to overcome this are crucial for improving the treatment of patients and therefore to identify that selinexor stimulates an NK cell anti-cancer response provides us with an excellent opportunity to achieve this.”

The team is now working with Karyopharm Therapeutics to determine how best to combine selinexor with NK cell targeted treatments to improve outcomes for patients with cancer.

They are also investigating if they can use NK cells as markers to identify patients most likely to respond well to selinexor treatment.

Leading cancer immunology research

Southampton has a rich history in immunology research and has an international reputation for successful bench to bedside results.

The city’s Centre for Cancer Immunology enables interdisciplinary teams to expand clinical trials, explore new areas and develop lifesaving drugs.

See more cancer immunology research news from the Centre website.