Stem Cell Therapy May Prevent Onset Of Diabetes From Cancer Drugs

Aug, 2022 - By SMI

When tested in mice, mesenchymal stem cell treatment successfully prevented type 1 diabetes that develops as a side effect of cancer immunotherapy

Different types of cancers can now be treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors; however their one side effects is onset of type 1 diabetes. Now a team of scientists at Osaka University found a stem cells therapy that could protect against such serious side effect of these drugs. According to the research published in the journal Diabetologia in May 2022, the mesenchymal stem cells prevented onset of type1 diabetes as side effect of caner immunotherapy, in mice.

The researchers in this new study investigated the capabilities of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to prevent harmful effects of cancer therapies such as cancer immunotherapy, which uses immune checkpoint inhibitors that however lead to development of type 1 diabetes as a side effect. These mesenchymal stem cells help in regeneration of tissue and modulation of immune functions. The researchers conducted experiments in mice, where they induced diabetes by administrating them with a purified PD-L1 monoclonal antibody. This monoclonal antibody is commonly used as immune checkpoint inhibitor. Moreover, the team also treated some mice with MSCs that were harvested from human fat tissue. The scientists examined and observed the immune cells in their pancreatic secretions.

Furthermore, as results 64% of mice that received only the antibody developed type 1 diabetes, compared to only 19% of mice that also received MSCs. Moreover, the team also observed a significant reduce in buildup of T cells and macrophages in islets pancreas in mice treated with MSC in. Even with these positive results of this research, the use of this treatment in humans is likely to take longer time as the research needs more work to be conducted in humans to prevent this rare yet serious side effect of cancer drugs in humans.