The following is a summary of “Taxanes trigger cancer cell killing in vivo by inducing non-canonical T cell cytotoxicity,” published in the July 2023 issue of the Cancer Cell by Vennin et al.

Even though treatment with taxanes does not always result in clinical benefit, all patients are susceptible to their harmful side effects, such as peripheral neuropathy. Understanding the mode of action of taxanes in vivo can aid in developing more effective treatment regimens. 

For a study, researchers show that in vivo, taxanes directly activate T cells to destroy cancer cells in a non-canonical, T-cell receptor-independent manner. Taxanes induce T cells to discharge cytotoxic extracellular vesicles, which results in the selective apoptosis of tumor cells while sparing healthy epithelial cells. They use these findings to devise an effective therapeutic strategy based on the transfer of T cells pre-treated with taxanes ex vivo, thus avoiding the toxicity of systemic treatment. 

Their research reveals a novel in vivo mechanism of action for one of the most widely used chemotherapies. It paves the way for harnessing taxanes’ T cell-dependent antitumor effects while avoiding systemic toxicity.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1535610823001769