Reducing Treg function in cancer patients should augment antitumor immune responses. We recently uncovered a mechanism of immunosuppression by human Tregs that implies transmembrane protein GARP and production of active TGF-ß1. We obtained monoclonal antibodies that block this process and could thus serve as a novel approach for cancer immunotherapy.
Keywords: Cancer immunotherapy; TGF-ß1; Tregs; immunosuppression; monoclonal antibodies.