Scientists from Russia and Belgium discover a method to enhance cancer immunotherapy efficacy
Scientists around the world are actively searching for methods to enable the immune system to fight cancer. By stimulating the immune system, it is possible to combat tumour cells that are resistant to treatment and to maintain close monitoring to avoid relapses. However, aggressive tumours, especially brain tumours (gliomas), can evade the immune system and remain resistant to therapy.
Researchers at Lobachevsky University, working in partnership with their colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium, have confirmed the efficacy of a method to combat gliomas by activating one of the mechanisms of immunogenic cell death, ferroptosis, a process in which tumour tissues are oxidised with the participation of iron ions.
"Since 2018, under the guidance of Professor Dmitry Krysko from Ghent University, studies have been conducted that have provided evidence that ferroptosis has immunogenic potential, meaning it can "programme" immune defence cells (T-lymphocytes) to attack the tumour. Our research presents this finding for the first time with remarkable clarity. The ferroptosis mechanism activates antitumour immunity and could form the basis for vaccines against glioma",said Victoria Turubanova, a key member of the research team at the UNN Institute of Neurosciences.
"During ferroptosis, proteins from destroyed tumour cells send danger signals to the immune system. T-killers eliminate the tumour and "remember" enemy cells to attack them upon subsequent encounters. Experiments on laboratory animals have confirmed the effectiveness of this approach. After a course of injections with a dendritic cell vaccine based on lysates of glioma cells killed through ferroptosis, the tumour implanted in mice either stopped growing, shrank, or completely disappeared. Thus, our research demonstrates the immunogenicity of ferroptosis, and our proposed approach offers a promising strategy for combating this type of tumour", explained Tatiana Mishchenko, Senior Researcher at the Department of General and Medical Genetics at the UNN Institute of Biology and Biomedicine, who leads the study in Nizhny Novgorod,
"Standard treatment protocols only increase the median survival of patients with gliomas by two to three months. This is catastrophically insufficient. That is why scientists and doctors are so interested in immunotherapy, which "trains" the body's immune system to attack and destroy tumours, as well as prevent metastasis and relapses. The results obtained provide a solid foundation for further enhancing the effectiveness of antitumour therapy", commented Dr. Maria Vedunova, Director of the Institute of Biology and Biomedicine at Lobachevsky University.
The scientists intend to continue investigating the effectiveness of ferroptosis on human glioma cells and to refine the proposed approach for clinical use. The research findings of the Russian-Belgian team were published in Nature Communications in 2026.
