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Immunotherapy

A lethal storm

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 14, page 766 (2014)Cite this article

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The use of cancer immunotherapies can result in severe toxic effects. As cancer is primarily a disease of ageing, Mirsoian et al. have examined the toxicity of immunotherapy in aged mice. The authors previously showed that treatment of young mice with an immune-stimulatory therapy including interleukin-2 (IL-2) and a monoclonal antibody against CD40 (anti-CD40) reduced tumour growth and was well tolerated. However, in aged mice this treatment induced a cytokine storm that was 100% lethal. They have now found that levels of visceral fat in mice increase with age. Young obese mice have similar levels of visceral fat to aged mice, and IL-2 and anti-CD40 treatment also induces a lethal cytokine storm in these mice, whereas calorie-restricted aged mice have less visceral fat and are protected from treatment toxicity.

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References

  1. Mirsoian, A. et al. Adiposity induces lethal cytokine storm after systemic administration of stimulatory immunotherapy regimens in aged mice. J. Exp. Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1084/jem.20140116 (2014)

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  1. Sarah Seton-Rogers
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Seton-Rogers, S. A lethal storm. Nat Rev Cancer 14, 766 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3868

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