Amsterdam, March 4 -- Immunotherapy research primarily focuses on improving the body's immune system's recognition of cancer cells. However, researchers at Amsterdam UMC and Moffitt Cancer Center have taken a different approach.

They explored how cancer impacts the energy management of a patient's T cells and discovered, for the first time, that contact with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells causes a severe energy crisis in these cells.

CLL is the most common type of leukaemia in the Western world and mainly affects the elderly. Despite new therapies, the disease remains incurable, and treatments are becoming increasingly expensive.

Some cancers, like acute B-cell leukemia, can now be treated by redirecting a patient's own T cel...