Gene editing may help the immune system find prostate cancer

Immunotherapy, which recruits the body’s immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells, has transformed treatment for many types of cancer. In most cases of prostate cancer, however, it has little effect. The reason is that most prostate tumors attract very few T cells, the immune cells responsible for directly attacking malignant cells. Researchers describe these as “cold” tumors because the immune system barely notices them and fails to mobilize a meaningful response. Without enough T cells inside the tumor, immunotherapy has little to work with. A joint research team from Duke University and the University of Rochester in New York has now developed an experimental technology that may help change that. The approach is based on CRISPR, the gene-editing method that allows researchers to target and modify specific segments of genetic material with high precision.