Tassie devils hold clue how human cancers evade immune system

Melbourne researchers from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, in collaboration with Cancer Research UK, have uncovered a new way that some human cancers can hide from the body’s immune system, a feature they share with tumours from an unlikely source – the Tasmanian devil.

Professor Dawson is quoted in the article from Australian Science Media Centre as saying:

‘“It is hoped this discovery may lead to a rationale for combining drugs that shut down the PRC2 pathway with immunotherapies to treat some aggressive cancers. This is especially important for solid cancers that are notoriously resistant to immune-based therapies, such as small cell lung cancer and some types of paediatric cancers, that have low expression of MHC-I.”

More information

• Read the full article from The Australian Science Media Centre
• Visit our current projects area to learn more about our work with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• Read the press release from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• Study published in Cancer Cell