BioCentury
ARTICLE | Translation in Brief

Opening doors for I-O

Tumor lymphangiogenesis plus immunotherapy lets the right cells in

October 12, 2017 7:53 PM UTC

A Science Translational Medicine study has flipped the script for tumor lymphangiogenesis by turning VEGF-C, a hallmark of poor prognosis, into a biomarker and a target for successful responses to immunotherapies.

Tumors that are surrounded by a dense network of lymphatic vessels and express high levels of lymphangiogenesis-stimulating vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) have been associated with metastasis and poor prognosis. Study author Manuel Fankhauser told BioCentury that tumor lymphatic vessels have primarily been considered an "exit route" for metastatic cells, with recent studies suggesting they also bring in immunosuppressive cells such as Tregs and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which dampens antitumor immunity...