80 per cent of colorectal cancers resist immunotherapy. This DNA treatment could help
Gillian Rutherford - 25 June 2025
U of A research team hones in on molecules that could be added to current therapies to activate the immune system against hard-to-treat cancers.
A 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ research team has identified a DNA structure that activates the immune system in cancer cells that are usually resistant to immunotherapy, offering hope of new, more effective treatments for colorectal and other cancers.
Eighty per cent of colorectal cancers are resistant to currently available immunotherapies, explains principal investigator , associate professor in the departments of oncology and medical microbiology and immunology.
That’s because they fail to activate a protein known as STING () that is key to antitumour immune responses within cancer cells. In , Baker’s team identifies and sequences a DNA molecule shown to activate STING resistant colorectal cancer cells.