Study Finds A Common Nutritional Supplement Might Boost Cancer Immunotherapy

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has uncovered a mechanism by which the tumor’s harsh internal environment sabotages T lymphocytes, leading cellular agents of the anticancer immune response. Reported in Nature Immunology, the study describes how a variety of stressors prevalent in the tumor microenvironment disrupt the power generators, or mitochondria, of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs), pushing them into a permanently sluggish state known as terminal exhaustion.

The study, led by Ludwig Lausanne Associate Member Ping-Chih Ho, also found that a widely available nutritional supplement—nicotinamide riboside (NR)—helps TILs overcome the mitochondrial dysfunction and preserves their ability to attack tumors in mouse models of melanoma and colon cancer.

“TILs often have a high affinity for antigens expressed by cancer cells,” says Ho. “This means that, in principle, they should attack cancer cells vigorously. But we often don’t see that. People have always wondered why because it suggests that the best soldiers