New preclinical findings reported in Cellular & Molecular Immunology XPO1 plays key role in MDSC differentiation, resulting in tumor progression Team sees possible application for FDA-approved drug selinexor in solid tumors Newswise — BUFFALO, N.Y. — 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 today in the journal Cellular & Molecular Immunology. “We discovered that a protein highly expressed by tumor cells and targeted in treatments for cancers like multiple myeloma is also highly expressed by myeloid-derived suppressor cells,” notes Saeed Daneshmandi, PhD, study first author and a postdoctoral researcher with the Department of Cell Stress Biology at Roswell Park. “This discovery is important because it reveals the previously unknown immunoregulatory mechanism of the FDA-approved Exportin 1 inhibitor selinexor, suggesting that XPO1 blockade could be effective in combination therapy — particularly in solid tumors, where selinexor alone has shown limited success.
” Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are known to promote tumor progression through the suppression of the body’s antitumor immune response. Gaining further understanding into the mechanisms that govern their development and immunosuppressive functions could reveal new therape.