A team of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center experts led by Hemn Mohammadpour, DVM, PhD, conducted research that offers new insights into tumor biology and may lay the groundwork for more effective cancer immunotherapy.
Their preclinical findings were published in the journal Cellular & Molecular Immunology.
In a prior exploratory single-cell RNA sequencing study exploring MDSC heterogeneity, Dr. Mohammadpour and colleagues uncovered the potential importance of XPO1 for myeloid-derived suppressor cell differentiation and function.
Despite extensive knowledge regarding XPO1’s role in cancer cells, its function in myeloid cells, particularly myeloid-derived suppressor cells, remains largely unexplored. Dr. Mohammadpour and colleagues aimed to investigate XPO1’s impact on MDSC differentiation and immunosuppressive functions, as well as to understand the mechanisms by which XPO1 regulates these properties in MDSCs.
“Our findings revealed that selinexor, an FDA-approved XPO1 inhibitor, reduces tumor progression partly by blocking MDSCs, inducing neutrophil-like cells with antitumor capabilities, and enhancing the antitumor immune response,” says Dr. Mohammadpour. “This discovery is significant because it suggests that selinexor could be used as an immunomodulatory agent to improve the effectiveness of standard treatments, such as immune checkpoint inhibition."
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center release on Newswise
