And if, instead of destroying tumors with brutal treatments, we managed to make them more exposed to the natural defenses of the body? A recent study by the Fratin Biomedical Research Institute in Virginia Tech offers a revolutionary approach: using low intensity electrical pulses not to kill cancer cells, but to modify their environment and make it more conducive to an attack on the immune system. This paradigm shift could transform the future of the fight against cancer.
Known technology, but reinvented
The technique used is called H-Fire, for High-Frequency Irreversible Electroporation. With high intensity, it is already known for its ability to directly destroy tumor cells by causing an irreversible rupture of their membrane. This method was used in the treatment of certain inoperable cancers, including the liver or pancreas.
But research by Virginia Tech’s laboratory reveals an unexpected effect when H-Fire is applied to lower intensity. In this so -called “subablative” mode, the intention is not to kill cells, but to subtly disturb their environment. These are the side effects of this gentle stimulation that particularly interest scientists.
Repeat the interior tumor
In a series of experiences on murine models of breast cancer, the researchers observed a striking phenomenon: just hours after treatment, tumor tissues showed a significant increase in the number of blood vessels. And that’s not all: from the third day, marked growth in the lymphatic vessels was also noted.
However, these two networks – blood and lymphatic – play an essential role in immune surveillance. Blood is indeed transporting immune cells, while the lymphatic system is a drainage and alert route in the event of an anomaly. Their accelerated development around the tumor would thus allow faster and more effective access to the killing cells of the immune system.
The tumor, of enemy with a strategic point of entry
This tilting of a destructive approach to a strategy of reconfiguring tumor microenvironment deeply changes the way of thinking about treatment. Rather than considering the tumor only as a mass to be eradicated, researchers now see it as an immunological node: a strategic place from which the natural defenses of the organism can be reactivated.
« The subablative H-Fire does not completely remove the tumor, but it changes the rules of engagement, Summarizes Dr. Jennifer Munson, director of the Cancer Research Center at Virginia Tech. “” We see signals which indicate a potential mobilization of the immune system to the tumor site. »
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-Illustration of cancer cells. Credits: Ilexx/Istock
Towards smarter hybrid therapies
This discovery opens up exciting perspectives, especially for combined therapies. Indeed, by improving local circulation and facilitating access to the tumor site, the subablative H-Fire could strengthen the efficiency of other treatments such as:
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Immune control points inhibitors (such as those used in melanoma or lung cancer),
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Therapies by adoptive cell transfer, which consist in injecting the patient his own immune cells previously boosted in the laboratory,
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Or the anti-cancer therapeutic vaccines, which sometimes struggle to effectively target the tumor.
This strategy does not target immediate healing, but a background transformation: reprogram the tumor so that it becomes easier to attack and less able to defend itself.
A track of the future … Already underway
The study, published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering and funded by several branches of the National Institutes of Health, underlines the importance of thinking about the treatment of cancer beyond direct aggression. The next researchers’ challenge will be to map the immune responses triggered by this vascular reconfiguration, and to test the synergy potential with existing treatments.
What if, in the near future, doctors could prepare the ground for the immune system before each treatment, as a gardener prepares the land before sowing? It is perhaps in this gentle but strategic approach that one of the keys to anticancer medicine of tomorrow is found.
