Will Heward

Biology 1010
Dr. Mika
2 April 2014
Can Cancer Evade the Immune System?
The popular press article was published on ScienceDaily.com by John Hopkins Medicine. I have
had a few people in my family that have been directly affected by cancer so when I saw
this article I was instantly hooked. I dont really see myself going into the science field when I
get older but if I ever did I would definitely be working on something that was cancer related.

The original research for this work was published on impactjournals.com/oncotarget by several
different departments and universities. In the Science Daily article, John Hopkins Medicine
claims to have found certain genes in the body that predict which tumors can hide from
the bodys immune system. This would be a huge step in the right direction for curing cancer.
A team says it has identified genes that have been repressed through so-called epigenetic changes
modifications that alter the way genes function without changing their DNA sequence which
help the cells to evade the immune system. The researchers were able to reverse these epigenetic
changes with the use of an FDAapproved drug. (Hopkins, 2014)

This process would make the cancerous cells in the body come out from hiding. This could
possibly help us diagnose earlier stages of cancer. This potentially makes the new found cells
better targets for similar therapy that has failed in the past.

Epigenetic therapy is emerging as a potential therapy for solid tumors. To investigate its
mechanism of action, we performed integrative expression and methylation analysis of 63 cancer
cell lines (breast, colorectal, and ovarian) after treatment with the DNA methyltransferase
inhibitor 5-azacitidine (AZA). Gene Set Enrichment Analysis demonstrated significant
enrichment for immunomodulatory pathways in all three cancers (14.4-31.3%) including
interferon signaling, antigen processing and presentation, and cytokines/chemokines.
(Li, et al,2014).

The researchers in this use the term, project Epigenetic Therapy, or in simpler terms, a
potential therapy for solid tumors. Both of these articles have similar research and hypotheses.
The biggest difference between the popular press article and the original is the popular press
makes it easier to understand, which I can bet was what they were trying to do. Most of us look
at the original research and have absolutely no idea what its saying. I am glad I read both of them
so I could get the real research and put it into simpler terms. One of the biggest differences
between the popular press article and the original research article that was done in the
explanation of it all. The original article is interesting but it doesnt have much of a conclusion or
idea of what we do from here and how we can use this going forward. In the popular press
article, they tell us that we have had success on human cancer cells and this could eventually
help our immune system fight against cancer cells without the need of chemotherapy or

radiation. After looking in cell lines, the Johns Hopkins team extended their work to human
tumor samples. Again they found evidence that these immune system pathways are turned down
in some patients and, that these immune genes can be turned back up in a small number of
patients with breast and colorectal cancer who had been treated with epigenetic
therapies. (Hopkins, 2014)

I think this is such an awesome discovery. If we continuing perfecting and advancing in this
research it could help save millions of lives all across the world.

Works Cited:
Hopkins, John. 2014.Common cancers evade detection by silencing parts of immune
systemcells. ScienceDaily. P. 1Li, H., Chiappinelli, K., Guzzetta, A., Easwaran, H., Yen, R.,
Vatapalli, R., Topper, M., Luo, J.,Connolly, R., Azad, N., Stearns, V., Pardoll, D., Davidson, N.,
Jones, P., Slamon, D., Baylin, S.,Zahnow, C., & Ahuja, N. (2014). Immune regulation by low
doses of the DNA methyltransferaseinhibitor 5-azacitidine in common human epithelial cancers.
Oncotarget, 5
(3), 587-598.
Links to Articles:Popular Press Articlehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140304154523.htm
Originalhttp://www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/index.php?
journal=oncotarget&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=1782

ReflectionWhat I have learned.

I learned that there are genes that can evade detection by the bodys immune system. The reason
we arent able to cure certain types of cancer is because these genes hide and are completely
invisible to the bodys immune system. This has not been possible before now because scientists
couldnt figure out how to modify the way certain genes function without
changing their DNA sequence, which in turn would cause all sorts of problems. These drug
researchers are using is FDA-approved; this drug enables us to reverse the epigenetic changes.
This epigenetic therapy is a way to attack solid tumors. Tests have been done on a few different
human body parts such as the breast, colorectal and ovarian. I am always interested in cancer
research, its so fascinating how tiny mutations in a humans DNA can cause so many problems.
The main therapy for cancer right now is Chemotherapy. The problem with chemo is that it
attacks all of the bodys cells which can be very damaging to the human body. This is why
people lose their hair because the radiation kills the proteins that make the hair cells.