Common asthma drug may turn off tumor 'switch' tied to immunotherapy resistance

Northwestern Medicine researchers discovered that a widely-used asthma and allergy medication may help combat aggressive cancers by blocking a mechanism tumors use to evade immunotherapy. The study reveals how cancer cells hijack white blood cells to create an immune-suppressive environment that allows them to resist treatment. This finding could significantly improve immunotherapy effectiveness for cancer patients whose tumors develop resistance. The repurposing of an existing, well-tolerated drug offers a promising and potentially faster path to clinical application. This research opens new therapeutic strategies for treating cancers that currently fail to respond to immunotherapy.