Neutrophil profiling illuminates anti-tumor antigen-presenting potency. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38447573/)

These scientists wanted to understand how a type of white blood cell called neutrophils behave in different types of cancer. Neutrophils are like the body's soldiers that fight against germs and other harmful things. They found that neutrophils can have different roles in different types of cancer.

To study this, the scientists looked at the genes of individual neutrophils from 17 different types of cancer in 143 patients. They discovered that neutrophils can have 10 different jobs, like causing inflammation, helping new blood vessels grow, and showing pieces of germs to other immune cells.

They found that when neutrophils show pieces of germs to other immune cells, it can be good for the patient's survival in most cancers. This process can be activated by a nutrient called leucine and a chemical change to the genes. These special neutrophils can also help activate other immune cells to fight against cancer.

The scientists also tested giving these special neutrophils or a diet rich in leucine to mice with cancer. They found that this helped the immune system work better when combined with a type of cancer treatment called anti-PD-1 therapy.

In conclusion, the scientists learned that neutrophils can behave differently in different cancers and that by understanding this, they may be able to develop new treatments to help the immune system fight against cancer better.

Wu Y., Ma J., Yang X., Nan F., Zhang T., Ji S., Rao D., Feng H., Gao K., Gu X., Jiang S., Song G., Pan J., Zhang M., Xu Y., Zhang S., Fan Y., Wang X., Zhou J., Yang L., Fan J., Zhang X., Gao Q. Neutrophil profiling illuminates anti-tumor antigen-presenting potency. Cell. 2024 Mar 14;187(6):1422-1439.e24. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.005. Epub 2024 Mar 5.