2023/12/14
National Cancer Center Japan
Keio University
The University of Tokyo
In a joint study, a research group led by Shunichiro Kageyama, a physician in the Department of Particle Beam Medical Science, Advanced Clinical Research of Cancer / Department of radiotherapy, National Cancer Center Hospital East, and Hidekazu Oyoshi, a resident at the National Cancer Center Japan (President: Hitoshi Nakagama, Chuo-ku, Tokyo), collaborated with Professor Atsushi Shibata of the Department of Molecular Oncology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Keio University, and Professor Yutaka Suzuki of the Department of Medical Genome Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo. The group conducted a spatiotemporal analysis of tissues from esophageal cancer patients before and after radiotherapy using single-cell analysis, spatial transcriptomics, and other methods. This research has clarified the mechanisms of cancer immune response to radiotherapy—many aspects of which were previously unknown—at the spatial, cellular, and genetic levels.
This study has provided crucial information on target cells, genes, and the timing for combination therapy, which are expected to enhance therapeutic effects when used with radiotherapy. In particular, macrophages that strongly express immunosuppressive genes such as PD-L1, IDO1, and SIRPA , which increase during radiotherapy, are predicted to play a significant role. Verifying therapies that target the immune cells and genes identified in this study is expected to lead to the development of effective treatments for esophageal cancer.
Please see below for the full press release.