Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – The immune systems of individuals with cancer experience significant disruption, and those with a greater number of immune cells in their bloodstream tend to have higher survival rates, according to a groundbreaking study conducted by researchers at the University College London (UCL) and the Francis Crick Institute.
The innovative tool, detailed in Nature Genetics, is known as Immune Lymphocyte Estimation from Nucleotide Sequencing (ImmuneLENS). For the first time, this technology allows scientists to determine the proportion of T cells and B cells—key components of the immune system—using whole genome sequencing (WGS) data.
Researchers of the study indicated that Whole genome sequencing (WGS) involves analyzing a blood sample to produce a complete genetic blueprint of an individual. By examining this data, researchers can gain crucial insights into the quantity of immune cells present, detect genetic mutations, and understand how the body is responding to disease. This approach is particularly valuable in the study of conditions like cancer.
Using ImmuneLENS, the research team analyzed more than 90,000 WGS samples from the 100,000 Genomes Project, a large-scale initiative led by Genomics England and NHS England that includes genetic data from both healthy individuals and cancer patients.
The findings revealed that cancer patients generally have a lower percentage of circulating T cells compared to those without the disease. Moreover, the proportion of T cells was identified as a key indicator of cancer prognosis, with higher levels linked to a 47% reduction in mortality over a five-year period following surgery. This correlation remained significant even after adjusting for factors such as age, cancer stage, and cancer type.
The researchers suggest that these immune system markers could be seamlessly integrated into existing genetic diagnostic tests, equipping doctors with additional insights to guide treatment decisions.
Professor Nicholas McGranahan of UCL Cancer Institute, the study’s senior author, indicated that the groundbreaking nature of their findings. He pointed out that while previous immune system research has concentrated on the tumor itself, this innovative approach, which analyzes the quantity of immune cells in a person’s blood, has yielded remarkable insights. According to McGranahan, the activity of immune cells in the blood appears to have a significant influence on cancer survival rates and could potentially predict a patient’s life expectancy more accurately than merely examining the number of T cells within the tumor.
“There have been hints in previous research that this might be important, but being able to analyse immune system information at this scale is game changing. The ability to compare immune cell changes in the blood and to what’s happening in the tumour environment opens up new avenues for cancer research, as well as healthcare research more widely.
“In terms of patient diagnosis and treatment, knowing whether a patient has relatively high or low numbers of immune cells in the blood, and how this corresponds to their prognosis, could help clinicians to decide on the best course of treatment for the individual.”
Researchers pointed out that analyzing changes both within the tumor’s immediate surroundings (local immune environment) and in the broader immune system is essential for understanding how cancer progresses and determining how a patient may respond to treatment.
Large-scale projects such as the 100,000 Genomes Project—which has gathered whole genome data from over 90,000 NHS patients diagnosed with rare diseases or cancer—have enabled scientists to examine the full range of genetic alterations in both healthy and cancerous cells. However, until now, it has not been possible to precisely determine the composition of immune cells within tumors and across the broader immune system.
ImmuneLENS expands upon a prior method introduced in 2021, which made it possible to estimate the proportion of T cells using whole exome sequencing data.
