Researchers discovered that immunosuppressed patients with non-melanoma skin cancer are not missing the key cancer-fighting immune cells found in immunocompetent patients, but those cells – known as macrophages – have lost the ability to communicate effectively. This new understanding may help researchers develop new treatment approaches for these aggressive skin cancers. The study was co-led by Moran Amit, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Head and Neck Surgery; Kunal Rai, Ph.D., professor of Genomic Medicine; Frederico Gleber-Netto, D.D.S., Ph.D., assistant professor of Head and Neck Surgery; Priyadharsini Nagarajan, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Anatomic Pathology; and Michael Migden, M.D., professor of Dermatology.
“For years, treating these patients has been very challenging, even in the era of immunotherapy. The prevailing thought has long been that these patients simply have fewer of these important immune cells, but that is not what we saw,” Amit said. “We learned that the quality of the immune cells and their interactions may be just as important as the number of cells present. This is an important finding because these patients need better treatment options.”