Many cancer patients suffer from severe damage to the intestinal mucosa after intensive treatments such as radiation or stem cell transplants. Researchers from the “Innate Immune Stimulation in Cancer and Transplantation” collaboration group at the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) in Regensburg have now discovered two potentially groundbreaking approaches to promote intestinal healing and improve long-term treatment outcomes.
Immune cells and a metabolic building block could help improve intestinal healing after cancer therapies. On the one hand, certain immune cells, known as regulatory T cells, help repair the intestine. They release special messenger substances that activate important intestinal stem cells, enabling sustainable regeneration. On the other hand, a small metabolic building block from the intestinal flora, desaminotyrosine (DAT), protects patients from serious complications after stem cell transplants. DAT strengthens the intestinal barrier and promotes repair even when the intestinal flora has been damaged by antibiotics.
“These discoveries open up entirely new perspectives for the treatment of cancer and transplant patients,” says Prof. Hendrik Poeck, head of the LIT cooperation group. Both findings from basic research show that targeted support of the immune system and the use of metabolic products from the diet could improve the control of side effects of cancer and transplant treatments in the future and improve the quality of life of patients.
Three studies by the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and the German Cancer Aid's “Cancer Therapy Studies” funding program will investigate how these findings can be translated into practice.