Counting molecules in order to treat bowel cancer with immunotherapy

New research may have found the answer as to why certain advanced bowel cancers cannot be effectively treated by immunotherapy, by analyzing specific molecules found on the surface of bowel cancer tumor cells. This could pave the way for personalized bowel cancer vaccines. The latest findings from the Institute of Cancer Research (London, UK) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (Lausanne, Switzerland) have led to new discoveries on how to predict the effectiveness of immunotherapy on bowel cancer tumors.   Specific molecules, known as neoantigens, that aid the immune system in locating cancerous tumor cells were investigated using a technique known as mass spectrometry.   This allowed for the number of neoantigens, which...