A new Northwestern Medicine study discovered the reason why black men are more likely to survive prostate cancer when given immunotherapy.
Black men die more often from prostate cancer, yet are more likely to respond to immunotherapy. The increased presence of a type of immune cell in the tumours of black men appears to be related to their increased odds of survival with immunotherapy. The findings will be published on February 10 in Nature Communications.
A research team by Dr Edward Schaeffer, chair of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Medicine, found that men who survive prostate cancer with immunotherapy have been found to have more plasma cells. Plasma cells are a type of specially differentiated B cell, which secrete antibodies and play a key role in the adaptive immune response.
“If a man’s prostate cancer has numerous plasma cells, we found he had improved cancer survival,” Schaeffer said. “Our study suggests plasma cells are important in the body’s response to cancer.”
Recent studies have shown that black men with advanced prostate cancer have on average better response to immunotherapy than white men. However, there has been no way to determine which individuals would have a better response, regardless of race.
Schaeffer’s team went through the genomics of 1300 tumour samples classified to genetic ancestry or self-identified race, and found more plasma cells in the tumours of black men than those of white men. However, the finding was not unique to black men alone, as elevated plasma cells in all men raised the odds of cancer-free survival after surgery.
“The finding comes at a time as researchers are discovering plasma cells may play a greater role in cancer immunotherapy than previously thought,” said first author Dr. Adam Weiner, a Northwestern Medicine urology resident. “Testing for plasma cells in prostate cancer may help identify men who will benefit from immune-based treatments.”
Source: Medical Xpress
