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Fatal skin cancers secrete compound that can heal

A compound produced by certain fatal skin tumours can potentially open the way for developing new cures, according to new research.

“The economic and social costs of treating skin cancer are enormous,” said Scott Byrne from the University of Sydney, who led the research.

”Identifying the tumour-derived compounds responsible for subverting the anti-tumour immune response will enable us to target them therapeutically,” he added.

”More specifically, we have shown that skin tumours escaping the immune system do so by secreting a compound called transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta.

”This will hopefully lead to novel immune-based therapies designed to make every skin tumour regress, and therefore reduce the ever increasing incidence of skin cancer.”

”Some skin cancers will spontaneously regress while others will continue to grow (which may be fatal),” said Byrne.

Scientists don’t yet understand why some tumours undergo regression and others continue to grow, but Byrne’s team has discovered that the immune system is critically involved in the recognition of tumours and their destruction, said a Sydney release.

”This is why transplant patients on immune suppressive therapy are more prone to getting skin cancers,” he noted.