Immunotherapies are frequently used to treat a wide range of cancers. They trigger the body’s own immune system to attack tumors, but they can also cause unwanted side effects of autoimmunity.
An occasional side effect is type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition, which can be permanent and can lead to life-threatening complications.
UCLA collaborative research has recently identified exactly how cancer immunotherapies can lead to type 1 diabetes.
Using a mouse research model, the research team identified the specific cell types and pathways involved in the progression to autoimmune diabetes, and they found an existing drug (commonly used to treat psoriasis and arthritis) that targets this pathway. They then showed that this drug can also stop, and possibly reverse, immunotherapy-induced diabetes.
The researchers are now working to launch clinical trials to test these findings in humans.
Among the researchers involved in this study is microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics professor Maureen Su, who leads the Autoimmunity Center of Excellence at UCLA. The center was established in the past year to find treatments for immunotherapy-induced diabetes, for long-term autoimmune disorders, and to address sex-differences in autoimmune diseases.
Read UCLA Health’s detailed article about these latest research findings.