A common mechanism between pregnancy and cancer that suppresses the immune system is discovered by the researchers from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. This finding could lead to new cancer treatment strategies (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Researchers find common immune system mechanism between pregnancy, cancer

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Suppressing the Immune System: A Feature of Both Pregnancy and Cancer

The immune system usually attacks foreign invaders but doesn’t reject a growing fetus during pregnancy. Cancer cells also manage to evade the immune system and grow unchecked. Researchers investigated this connection to understand how to target cancer’s immune evasion tactics.

“In pregnancy, the immune system doesn’t reject the growing fetus, so we know there must be mechanisms active in the placenta,” said Weiping Zou, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher involved in the study. “In cancer, it’s the same thing: the growing tumor is not rejected by the immune system.”

Blocking B7-H4: A Potential Approach to Slow Cancer Growth

The study revealed a shared molecular mechanism, B7-H4, that suppresses the immune system in both pregnancy and cancer. Blocking B7-H4 in mouse models and human breast cancer tissues led to slower cancer growth and a stimulated immune response.

This finding suggests that targeting B7-H4 could be a promising strategy for cancer treatment. However, researchers caution that it’s a complex mechanism.

“B7-H4 is an important checkpoint, but it’s complicated,” Zou said. There’s more to understand about how B7-H4 is regulated and how to effectively target this pathway for cancer treatment.

The research team plans further studies to explore how other factors influence B7-H4 and its role in cancer immunology. They aim to gain a deeper understanding of this mechanism to develop new and improved cancer therapies.

Reference:

1. Researchers find common immune system mechanism between pregnancy, cancer
   – (https://www.pathology.med.umich.edu/news/1552)

Source-Medindia