Immune cell steroids help tumours suppress the immune system, offering new drug targets

(Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) Tumours found to evade the immune system by telling immune cells to produce immunosuppressive steroids. Researchers discovered that immune T cells from mouse skin and breast tumours secrete steroids, and that preventing this steroid production reduced growth of tumours in mice. The study found that either removing a key steroid-producing gene, or switching it off with a drug, dramatically slowed the formation or progression of cancers, revealing potential immuno...