The goal of immunotherapy is to activate a patient’s own immune system to target and destroy tumor cells. In a preclinical study, researchers from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm successfully triggered a potent anti-tumor immune response by reprogramming how malignant B cells die.

Their work demonstrated the effectiveness of a triple-drug therapy for treating certain blood cancers, including specific types of lymphoma and leukemia that affect B cells. The findings were published in Science Advances.

Immunotherapy represents one of the most promising frontiers in cancer therapy. It works by enabling a patient’s immune system to identify and selectively destroy tumor cells. Immune cells act as sentinels, constantly scanning the body to detect and remove lingering cancer cells, which helps prevent relapse. Among the latest immunotherapy methods is one based on a programmed cell death process called necroptosis. Unlike apoptosis, a form of silent cell death, necroptosis releases molecular signals that alert and activate immune cells to attack remaining tumor cells.