Combination therapy may improve immune response against advanced prostate cancer
Combining the targeted therapy olaparib with an additional immunotherapy may improve immune response in a subgroup of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who responded poorly to initial treatment, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
A Northwestern Medicine study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation suggests that combining the targeted therapy olaparib with an additional immunotherapy may enhance immune response in some patients with advanced prostate cancer. Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, a late-stage form of the disease, has poor prognosis with an average life expectancy of just three years.
The study, led by Bin Zhang, MD, Ph.D., identified a potential combination therapy strategy to overcome immune-cold tumors and sensitize them to immunotherapy. Zhang's team discovered that olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, increases expression of CD73, an immune checkpoint enzyme that suppresses T-cell activation. By combining olaparib with CD73 blockade therapy in prostate cancer mouse models, they observed delayed tumor growth, improved T-cell infiltration, and enhanced CD8+ T-cell function.
This finding highlights CD73 as a potential therapeutic target to improve the efficacy of olaparib-based treatments for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, even those without homologous recombination repair deficiencies.
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