They are testing a therapy against zombie cells that makes chemotherapy more effective.

Researchers Biomedical Research Institute (IRB) from Barcelona we tried animal models A new therapy which acts against senescent cells, also known as ‘zombie’, what could improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy in humans for various cancers.

They represent conclusions study published this Wednesday scientific journal Nature Cancer, in which a team of IRB researchers Manuel Serrano studied the behavior of aging tumor cells.

These cells appear through effect of chemotherapy or other targeted treatments

and they are called zombies because They are neither dead nor alive; They cease to function normally, no longer multiply and create a favorable environment for tumor regrowth.

The study describes how cells that became aging after treatment activate PD-L2 protein protect yourself from the immune system, which prevents lymphocytes (a type of immune cell) act against cancer cells.

So aging stimulate tumor growth and limit the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

Research has shown that blocking this type of protein in mouse models, Chemotherapy is more effective against cancer.

“This paves the way for consideration of the possibility of using potential PD-L2 inhibitor as an adjuvant

(a substance that enhances the effect of the main drug) in the treatment of this disease,” Serrano noted.

For his part, one of the authors of the work, Jose Alberto Lopez noted that “although there is a need more experiments To characterize the role of this molecule in various human tumors, this work allowed us to expand knowledge about the role of PD-L2 and the interaction of senescent cells with the immune system.”

The study was conducted in cell lines And in animal models research into skin, pancreatic and breast cancer.

Got the job funding from the La Caixa Foundation, Spanish Cancer Association, BBVA Foundation, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Department of Research and Universities of the Generalitat, European Research Council (ERC) and the European FEDER funds.