“To ensure that modern immunotherapies are effective in a greater number of cancer patients than before, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University have developed a new strategy for targeting tumor cells: an ‘immune booster’ consisting of cells that produce antibodies directed against a specific molecule frequently found on tumor cells—sialic acid. This acid forms part of the sugar molecules located on the surface of tumor cells. When sialic acid binds to lectin molecules on the surface of immune cells, it results in the suppression of the body’s own defense cells—specifically natural killer cells and macrophages.
The goal is to release this ‘brake.’ Consequently, the researchers have engineered cells that produce antibodies designed to perform a dual function: specifically locating tumor cells while simultaneously binding to the sialic acid present on them. This is achieved through the incorporation of lectin molecules onto the antibodies. By attaching themselves en masse to the sialic acid molecules on the tumors—antibodies referred to as ‘AbLec’—these agents effectively disengage the inhibitory mechanism affecting killer cells and macrophages, thereby enabling these immune cells to resume their attack on the tumor cells.
The extent to which this method—which was tested in mice and described in the journal *Nature Biotechnology*—proves effective in humans is now set to be evaluated in clinical trials.” [1]
1. Booster für die Immuntherapie. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 17 Dec 2025: N1. jom
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