The immune system plays an important role in fighting cancer. T cells, a type of immune cell, can kill tumor cells. In the brain, however, T cells are naturally less active, which limits the effectiveness of immunotherapy. To better understand this, we studied how T cells function in tumors in the brain. By growing T cells from brain metastases of skin and lung cancer patients in the laboratory, it became clear that T cells were actually capable of destroying tumor cells outside the body. One challenge seems to be that patient T cell numbers inside the brain are too low to eliminate tumors effectively. In addition, many patients receive dexamethasone to relieve symptoms. This drug suppresses T cell activity, especially upon long-term use. These findings highlight the need to further investigate the balance between T cell activity and dexamethasone use to improve immunotherapy in the brain.
Mark Sweep (1998) obtained his Master’s degree Regenerative Medicine & Technology from Eindhoven University of Technology and Utrecht University in 2021. Hereafter he started his PhD research as part of the departments of Medical Oncology and Medical BioSciences at the Radboud university medical center. Currently, he is working as a Postdoctoral researcher at the department of Medical BioSciences of the Radboud university medical center.