Scientists Turn Tumour Cells Into Immune Cells
Lund University researchers found a way to trigger formation of tertiary lymphoid structures inside tumours in mice, potentially improving immunotherapy response.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Cancer
Researchers at Lund University reprogrammed cancer cells inside tumours into dendritic cells in mice, promoting the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures. The findings were published in the journal Immunity.
Why it matters
Immunotherapy does not work for everyone, particularly for cancers that are difficult to treat. Patients whose tumours contain tertiary lymphoid structures respond better to immunotherapy, so a method to induce these structures could extend benefits to more patients.
The findings come from experiments in mice, where the method activated the immune system across five cancer types including melanoma and pancreatic cancer. Whether the approach will produce the same effect in human patients has not been established.
The players
Lund University
Lund University is a public research university in Lund, Sweden, known for its life sciences and medical research programmes.
The details
Researchers reprogrammed cancer cells inside tumours into dendritic cells, which then promote the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures. The experiments revealed how immune cells are recruited and organised within tumours.
Timeline
Findings published in the journal Immunity on 9 November 2026.
Health Landscape
The work builds on earlier studies that reprogrammed cancer cells inside tumours into dendritic cells, extending that approach toward making tumours responsive to immunotherapy. It targets cancers that have so far resisted current immunotherapy treatments.
If the approach is confirmed in humans, patients with immunotherapy-resistant tumours could gain access to a treatment strategy that does not currently exist. The research is at the mouse-model stage, so no change to current treatment is available yet.
The takeaway
Making tumours more visible to the immune system could widen immunotherapy's reach to cancers where it currently fails. Continued work on the signals behind these immune structures will determine whether the approach can be translated to patients.
What happens next
Researchers plan to investigate which signals cause tertiary lymphoid structures to form and persist, and how different immune cells work together.
Further reading
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