A multi-institutional study led by Mayo Clinic and published in Cell Reports Medicine reports that pairing a next-generation immunotherapy with standard hormone therapy before surgery may help overcome a long-standing barrier in early-stage prostate cancer treatment.

In this first-in-human, early-phase randomized trial, researchers tested whether adding a next-generation immunotherapy to hormone therapy before surgery could counteract that immune suppression. The combination reduced Treg levels inside prostate tumors. Patients whose tumors showed the greatest reductions were more likely to remain cancer-free during follow-up.