Dhaka, June 26 -- Chinese researchers have uncovered a previously unreported immune-activating function of methotrexate, a classic immunosuppressive drug, providing a theoretical foundation for its combined use with tumour immunotherapy and radiotherapy in clinical practice.

The findings have been published online in Science Translational Medicine.

According to news agency Xinhua, while significant progress has been made in tumour immunotherapy in recent years, challenges of primary and acquired drug resistance persist.

In the study, the research team revealed methotrexate's previously unrecognized immune-activating role within the tumour microenvironment, said Zheng Mingyue, corresponding author of the paper and researcher at Hangzhou...