Researchers at Cardiff University have developed a way to find and destroy abnormal T cells that contribute to the highly aggressive form of blood cancer, T-cell lymphoma. The method is based on identifying only those cells that have a specific receptor on the membrane, while the side effect on the immune system is minimized. This was announced in a press release on the MedicalXpress website.
Lymphomas form when malignant immune cells (T lymphocytes) divide uncontrollably. For the treatment of tumors, it is necessary to find a way to destroy defective cells so that healthy T-lymphocytes remain intact.
The new method is based on the selective action of drugs that find and kill only those cells that carry one of the two cell receptors characteristic of a tumor. Each T cell has either a C1 or a C2 receptor. When a cell degenerates into a malignant one and gives rise to cancer, all defective cells carry only one type of receptor, for example C1.
Preparations based on antibodies specific to this receptor can destroy all cells with C1, but leave T-lymphocytes that carry C2. Thus, the patient's immune system continues to function, protecting him from various infections.
