Can TAMs Hold the Key to Stopping Cancer’s Advances?
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Can TAMs Hold the Key to Stopping Cancer’s Advances?

ByHolly Zink

TAMs are important cells found in cancer tumors. TAMs or tumor associated macrophages cause inflammation and stop the body from fighting the cancer. When a person has a lot of these cells, it means their cancer is harder to treat. A new study published in Frontiers in Immunology looked at whether using a drug to target TAMs can stop the spread of cancer. Targeting TAMs to Halt Cancer Spread Revealed in Recent Study The researchers in the study used a drug called alpha-ChemR23. This drug stops the TAMs from working, which might also stop the cancer tumors from spreading. They tested this drug in tumor samples taken from healthy people and from people with either breast cancer or mesothelioma in…

Macrophages May Hold Key to Fighting Mesothelioma
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Macrophages May Hold Key to Fighting Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers in Western Australia are investigating new ways of bolstering the immune system in an effort to fight cancers like mesothelioma. Like most types of cancer, malignant mesothelioma occurs primarily in people over 65. That is also the time in life when the immune system typically weakens. Researchers from Curtin University and the University of Western Australia say it is no coincidence that people become more susceptible to mesothelioma as their immunity wanes. In addition to age-related immune dysfunction, mesothelioma patients experience a further decline in immunity caused by the growing tumor itself. To better understand the connection between declining immunity and the onset of mesothelioma, the researchers are focusing on a particular type of immune system cell called a macrophage….