Autoantibodies May Protect Against Cancer, Scientists Explore Their Role

Illustration of medical research. Scientists are studying the role of autoantibodies in the risk and development of cancer. Illustration photo: Pexels.

JAKARTA - Autoantibodies have long been known for being able to make the immune system attack its own body. Now, scientists are studying the other side of the protein. Autoantibodies are suspected of affecting whether a person is protected from cancer or how the disease develops.

The Independent, quoted on Monday, August 10, reported that the study was based on the suspicion that the immune system also explained why some people remained cancer-free despite being exposed to various risk factors throughout their lives.

The human body has billions of types of antibodies. These proteins are made by the immune system to recognize and fight bacteria, viruses, fungi, toxins, and allergy-causing substances.

The problem arises when antibodies mistakenly recognize normal body molecules as targets. These antibodies are called autoantibodies. As a result, the immune system can attack healthy cells and tissues.

"There is a lot of evidence that the immune system plays a major role in cancer," said Laurent Casanova, a professor at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute, UT Southwestern.

"Our task is to determine whether there are autoantibodies that can provide protection against cancer or actually affect the course of the disease," he said.

So far, scientists have discovered autoantibodies that bind to about a dozen of the approximately 50 immune system molecules called cytokines.

Cytokines are messenger proteins that help regulate the immune system response.

The researchers suspect that autoantibodies that target these immune system mechanisms may affect the body's ability to monitor and fight cancer cell growth.

Findings regarding the relationship between the immune system and cancer are also related to the development of immunotherapy, including checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cell therapy. Both are approaches that utilize the immune system to fight cancer.

According to scientists, the evidence strengthens the suspicion that autoantibodies also affect the development of cancer and may help explain why some people remain cancer-free despite having a high risk.

Subsequent research will catalogue and study autoantibodies in a larger and more diverse group of volunteers.

Participants will include people with genetic syndromes or habits that increase the risk of cancer, such as heavy smokers. Researchers will also study the elderly group, including people aged 100 years or older.

"Mapping antibody patterns in cancer-free people, those at risk of cancer, and cancer patients can clarify their role in cancer risk and disease progression," the researchers wrote in the journal Cell.

They hope that the mapping can help find new ways to reduce the risk of cancer or treat existing diseases more effectively.

Researchers have also found more than 80 genes that if mutated can interfere with the body's ability to fight infections such as influenza and COVID-19.

The mutation will then be studied to find out whether the disorder in the immune system is also related to the risk of developing cancer.