Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the western world. However, it is often not known how it develops. Human immune systems can kill cancer cells, but this ability is often suppressed in those with colorectal cancer. It has been shown in mice and lab-based experiments to be suppressed by signals released from a certain type of cell located in the vicinity of cancer cells called stromal cells. Despite this, it is not known if colorectal cancer in humans develops because stromal cells release these signals that prevent the immune system from killing cancer cells. This project therefore aims to investigate if stromal cells in tissue samples from patients with colorectal cancer release immunity-suppressing signals and if they do, the effect that they have on the patients’ immune cells. It is hoped that this knowledge may lead the development of new therapies for colorectal cancer that restore the ability of a patient’s immune system to kill cancer cells.
