Författare: Justin Stebbing Professor of Biomedical Sciences Anglia Rusk

A fascinating new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, has revealed an unexpected potential benefit of severe COVID infection: it may help shrink cancer.

This surprising finding, based on research conducted in mice, opens up new possibilities for cancer treatment and sheds light on the complex interactions between the immune system and cancer cells – but it certainly doesn’t mean people should actively try to catch COVID.

The data outlining the importance of the immune system in cancer is considerable and many drugs target the immune system, unlocking its potential, an important focus of my own research.

The study here focused on a type of white blood cell called monocytes. These immune cells play a crucial role in the body’s defence against infections and other threats. However, in cancer patients, monocytes can sometimes be hijacked by tumour cells and transformed into cancer-friendly cells that protect the tumour from the immune system.

What the researchers discovered was that severe COVID infection causes the body to produce a special type of monocyte with unique anti-cancer properties. These “induced” monocytes are specifically trained to target the virus, but they also retain the ability to fight cancer cells.

To understand how this works, we need to look at the genetic material of the virus that causes COVID. The researchers found that these induced monocytes have a special receptor that binds well to a specific sequence of COVID RNA. Ankit Bharat, one of the scientists involved in this work from Northwestern University in Chicago explained this relationship using a lock-and-key analogy: “If the monocyte was a lock, and the COVID RNA was a key, then COVID RNA is the perfect fit.”

Remarkable

To test their theory, the research team conducted experiments on mice with various types of advanced (stage four) cancers, including melanoma, lung, breast and colon cancer. They gave the mice a drug that mimicked the immune response to a severe COVID infection, inducing the production of these special monocytes. The results were remarkable. The tumours in the mice began to shrink across all four types of cancer studied.

Unlike regular monocytes, which can be converted by tumours into protective cells, these induced monocytes retained their cancer-fighting properties. They were able to migrate to the tumour sites – a feat that most immune cells cannot accomplish – and, once there, they activated natural killer cells. These killer cells then attacked the cancer cells, causing the tumours to shrink.

This mechanism is particularly exciting because it offers a new approach to fighting cancer that doesn’t rely on T cells, which are the focus of many current immunotherapy treatments.

While immunotherapy has shown promise, it only works in about 20% to 40% of cases, often failing when the body can’t produce enough functioning T cells. Indeed it’s thought that the reliance on T cell immunity is a major limitation of current immunotherapy approaches.

This new mechanism, by contrast, offers a way to selectively kill tumours that is independent of T cells, potentially providing a solution for patients who don’t respond to traditional immunotherapy.

It’s important to note that this study was conducted in mice, and clinical trials will be necessary to determine if the same effect occurs in humans.

Maybe aspects of this mechanism could work in humans and against other types of cancer as well, as it disrupts a common pathway that most cancers use to spread throughout the body.

While COVID vaccines are unlikely to trigger this mechanism (as they don’t use the full RNA sequence as the virus), this research opens up possibilities for developing new drugs and vaccines that could stimulate the production of these cancer-fighting monocytes.

Few would have imagined that there’d be an upside to COVID.
blvdone/Shutterstock

Trained immunity

The implications of this study extend beyond COVID and cancer. It shows how our immune system can be trained by one type of threat to become more effective against another. This concept, known as “trained immunity”, is an exciting area of research that could lead to new approaches for treating a wide range of diseases.

However, it’s crucial again to emphasise that this doesn’t mean people should seek out COVID infection as a way to fight cancer, and this is especially dangerous as I have described. Severe COVID can be life-threatening and has many serious long-term health consequences.

Instead, this research provides valuable insights that could lead to the development of safer, more targeted treatments in the future. As we continue to grapple with the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, new infections and long COVID, studies like this remind us of the importance of basic scientific research.

Even in the face of a global health crisis, researchers are finding ways to advance our understanding of human biology and disease. This work not only helps us combat the immediate threat of COVID, but also paves the way for breakthroughs in treating other serious conditions such as cancer.

While there’s still much work to be done before these findings can be translated into treatments for human patients, this study represents an exciting step forward in our understanding of the complex relationship between viruses, the immune system and cancer. It offers hope for new therapeutic approaches and underscores the often unexpected ways in which scientific discoveries can lead to medical breakthroughs. Läs mer…

Cases of mouth cancer have reached a record high in England and Scotland, a new report shows. Last year, there were more than 10,000 new cases.

Mouth cancer has increased by 38% in the past decade and by 133% compared with 20 years ago. Last year, more than 3,500 people in the UK lost their lives to mouth cancer.

The increase in mouth cancer cases cannot be attributed solely to there being more people, meaning that more cases occur. While the UK population has indeed grown over the past two decades, the rise in mouth cancer cases has outpaced this growth significantly. The so-called “age-standardised incidence rates”, which account for population changes, have also shown an upward trend meaning that this effect is very real.

Several factors are probably behind this increase in mouth cancer cases. Changing lifestyle habits, particularly those related to known risk factors, play a significant role.

Tobacco use, including smoking and chewing tobacco, remains a primary cause, with around two-thirds of cases directly linked to smoking. Excessive alcohol consumption is another major contributor, responsible for about one-third of all mouth cancers.

The combined effects of heavy drinking and smoking can increase the risk by a staggering 30 times.

Additionally, the human papillomavirus (HPV) has emerged as an increasingly important risk factor, particularly for oropharyngeal cancers, a type of mouth cancer affecting the throat. Oral HPV is thought to mainly spread through oral sex.

Read more:
Oral sex is now the leading risk factor for throat cancer

How to spot it

Mouth cancer can be effectively treated if caught early enough. Common symptoms include persistent mouth ulcers that don’t heal within three weeks, unexplained lumps in the mouth or neck area, white or red patches in the mouth or throat, and difficulty swallowing or persistent hoarseness.

Regular dental check-ups and self-examinations can aid in early detection. However, awareness remains a challenge. Only 20% of adults knowing the signs and symptoms to look for – although some good news from the State of Mouth Cancer UK Report 2024 was that nearly 80% of UK adults know that it is possible to get cancer in or around the mouth.

Most people have heard of cancer affecting parts of the body such as the lungs or breasts. However, cancer can also appear in the mouth, where it can occur in areas like the lips, tongue, cheeks, tonsils and throat, which are included in the report. Sometimes it’s called head and neck cancer.

Mouth ulcers that don’t heal within three weeks should be seen by a doctor.
Zay Nyi Nyi / Alamy Stock Photo

While mouth cancer can affect people of any age, it predominantly strikes older adults. About 85% of new cases occur in people over 50. But recent reports have also shown an increasing number of cases at younger ages, emphasising that the disease can occur at any stage of life. I’ve certainly looked after very young patients with this.

Treatment options for mouth cancer have evolved over the years, typically involving a combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

The specific treatment plan depends on factors such as the cancer’s stage, location and the patient’s overall health. Surgery often remains the primary treatment for early-stage mouth cancer, often followed by radiotherapy to reduce the risk of recurrence.

For more advanced cases, a combination of treatments may be necessary, including chemotherapy and targeted therapies. Sometimes a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy means that people with mouth cancers can avoid surgery altogether.

Other recent developments include immunotherapy drugs, which help increase survival rates too. However, the prognosis for mouth cancer varies depending on the stage at diagnosis and the effectiveness of treatment. There’s no doubt that early detection significantly improves survival rates.

Emerging treatments offer hope for improved outcomes in mouth cancer cases. Targeted therapies are also showing promise in clinical trials and are increasingly being incorporated into treatment regimens. Often, these newer treatments aim to enhance the body’s immune response against cancer cells or target specific molecular pathways involved in cancer growth.

Overall, improving education, increasing access to NHS dentistry and tackling late diagnosis are some of the key challenges in confronting mouth cancer. The report also calls for a government-funded mouth cancer campaign.

As research continues, the focus remains on early detection, prevention and raising public awareness about mouth cancer, which can help decrease heavy drinking and smoking – both major risk factors.

Healthcare professionals, including dentists and GPs, play a crucial role in identifying potential cases and educating patients about risk factors and symptoms. With continued efforts in research, prevention and treatment, there is hope for improving outcomes and reducing the impact of this increasingly prevalent form of cancer. Läs mer…