Researchers at University Hospital Zurich are working to develop the next level of immunotherapy. They want to modify macrophages – the immune system’s scavengers – to attack cancer cells.

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Few types of human cells can be so vividly described as macrophages. Our immune system’s “scavenger” cells are reminiscent of Pac-Man, the figure that used to munch its way through the dots in the 1980s computer game. Similar to the way the game character rushes through the maze, macrophages make their way unswervingly through our blood vessels and tissues, swallowing up anything that could endanger us – for example bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. They enclose the foreign bodies before digesting and destroying them.

But there is a problem when it comes to eliminating cancer cells: they are able to reprogram the macrophages and harness them for their own use. Suddenly, the macrophages are helping tumors grow, making it easier for metastases to form, and preventing other immune cells from doing their job.

Professor Roberto Speck and Dr. Simon Bredl at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology at University Hospital Zurich want to put a stop to this disastrous turn of events. In the course of their research they have come across immune system mechanisms that could also play a key role in treating cancer. “Our vision is to turn the macrophages from the problem into the solution,” Roberto Speck and Simon Bredl explain. To do this the researchers intend to isolate macrophages from the patient’s blood, genetically modify them and then reintroduce them by infusion. Back in the body, they would infiltrate the tumor and destroy its defensive wall, allowing more immune cells to penetrate and join forces with the macrophages to destroy the tumor cells.

This multi-year research project is being funded by various donations to the USZ Foundation. If it succeeds, it will mark the next level of immunotherapy. While the immunotherapies available to date, working on the basis of T-cells, get gratifying results with forms of cancer such as leukemia and melanoma, this kind of treatment shows little success when used on other types of cancer, so-called solid tumors.

What T-cells aren’t managing may be possible for the genetically modified macrophages that are currently being developed and tested at University Hospital Zurich. If the scavenger cells can in the future destroy tumor cells just as diligently as Pac-Man swallows up the dots, it will be a great source of hope for people with cancer.

Comprehensive Cancer Center Zurich
University Hospital Zurich

Gebauer Stiftung

Lotte und Adolf Hotz Sprenger-Stiftung

Claudia von Schilling Foundation for Breast Cancer Research

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Stiftung zur Krebsbekämpfung

Novartis Stiftung für medizinisch-biologische Forschung