{
  "id": 8274272,
  "title": "B cells may help predict risk of colitis from immunotherapy",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/b-cells-may-help-predict-risk-of-colitis-from-immunotherapy",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-18T17:20:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-cells-colitis-immunotherapy.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered a new role for B cells, a type of immune cell, in triggering and perpetuating colitis—a side effect of immunotherapy treatments. The study, published in Cell Reports, suggests that changes in B cell activity may occur before symptoms of colitis appear, potentially serving as a blood-based biomarker to identify patients at risk. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, a popular form of cancer treatment, can cause severe side effects like colitis, disrupting treatment regimens. The findings indicate that higher levels of B cells before treatment are linked to an increased risk of immunotherapy-related colitis in patient samples. The researchers' preclinical models revealed that B cell activation precedes the expansion of inflammatory T cells, which damage tissue and cause colitis. Depleting B cells before treatment reduced colitis severity and intestinal damage, suggesting B cells initiate and amplify the inflammatory cascade. B cells also direct immune cell movement into the colon, exacerbating inflammation. Preclinical models with altered gut microbiomes, which are associated with abnormal B cell activation before immunotherapy, experienced reduced colitis severity and inflammation when their gut bacteria were restored through fecal microbiota transplantation. These results imply that blood-based B cell measurements might help identify patients at higher risk of developing immunotherapy-related colitis before treatment begins, and that targeting B cells or improving the gut microbiome could be potential preventive strategies. Further validation in larger patient groups is necessary to confirm these findings.",
  "summary": "Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a previously unknown role for B cells, adaptive immune cells, in triggering and sustaining colitis as a side effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a widely used form of cancer immunotherapy.",
  "key_points": [
    "B cells may predict risk of colitis from immunotherapy.",
    "Higher B cell levels before treatment linked to increased colitis risk.",
    "Depleting B cells reduces colitis severity and intestinal damage."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}