Aging Cancer Cells Act as Anti-cancer Immunization Protection Shield...the role of cancer recurrence

Jan 08, 2025

A schematic diagram showing the process in which aging cancer cells control PD-L1 levels to suppress anti-tumor immune responses and potentially induce cancer recurrence.

A research team led by Professor Lee Jae-sun and Professor Cha Jong-ho of Inha University's School of Medicine recently identified the mechanism of new cancer malignancy through joint research and proposed the possibility of new cancer treatment.

Professor Lee Jae-sun and Professor Cha Hyung-ho are experts in aging cancer and anti-cancer immunity, respectively, and this study has revealed a new fact that aging cancer cells that are resistant to cancer treatment contribute to the recurrence of cancer by acting as a protective film to suppress anti-cancer immunity.

Cancer treatments such as anticancer drugs and radiation are mostly fatal to cancer cells, but they induce aging of some cancer cells. Although aging cancer cells no longer proliferate, they are reported to create an inflammatory environment and play an important role in cancer recurrence.

In this study, the joint research team revealed for the first time that aging cancer cells increase the expression of PD-L1, a inhibitory immune checkpoint protein that prevents immune cells from attacking cancer cells, inducing them to avoid cancer cells from the immune system and promoting the growth and metastasis of cancer cells.

We also found that ageing cancer cells have a more stable way of maintaining PD-L1 through mechanism studies. It activates the process of making PD-L1 and the glycosylation process (the process of attaching sugar to proteins).

We also confirmed that protein RPN1 is a key factor regulating the glycosylation process of PD-L1 in aged cancer cells. It proved that immune avoidance can be reduced and recurrence of cancer can be suppressed by activating cancer cell attacks by cytotoxic T cells through treatment to remove aging cancer cells targeting RPN1.

The research is significant in that it has presented a new treatment target that can increase cancer treatment efficiency, focusing on the interaction between aging cancer cells and immune cells. In recognition of this achievement, the study was recently published in Nature Communications, an international renowned academic journal.

Professor Lee Jae-sun and Professor Cha Hyung-ho, co-corresponding authors, said, "This study provided an opportunity to explain why cancer cells that remain in the immune-suppressing cancer microenvironment are eliminated after cancer treatment, and to enhance academic understanding of the interaction between cancer and immune cells. Based on the interaction between aging cancer cells and immune cells, we will continue research to increase the efficiency of immune chemotherapy and reduce cancer malignancy to develop practical treatment for cancer patients."