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Researchers from the Medical University of Graz recently published this together with colleagues from Germany and the United States. A substance has also been found that nullifies the blocking effect: sodium bicarbonate commonly known as “baking soda” or “cleaning sodium”.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common form of blood cancer in adults and is not easy to treat. A transplant of immune stem cells from healthy donors leads to a cure in just under half of the patients. In the others, however, the disease returns.
In the course of a stem cell transplant, the entire hematopoietic system is usually largely destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation therapy and then rebuilt by transplantation of blood stem cells. In addition to all the blood formation, the immune system of a healthy donor is also transferred to the patient, which can then help fight leukemia.
The focus of interest is on T cells. These cells of the immune system are considered the main mediators of the body’s antitumor response.
But cancer cells fight back against T cells: Scientists were able to use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to show that they form large amounts of lactic acid and release it into their environment. This acid changes the metabolism of T cells, alters their reproduction and changes their effectiveness.
But the research team has found a way to neutralize the disruptive effect on T cells: “Sodium bicarbonate neutralizes the harmful effects of lactic acid and even makes it an energy supplier for T cells. In this way, they are prepared to fight tumor cells, ”says first author Franziska Uhl of the Freiburg University Medical Center.
* Publication number https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/12/567/eabb8969
