Abnormal Antibodies that Disrupt DNA Repair Could Explain Childhood Cancer
The antibodies were about eight times more common in children who later developed cancer, researchers said, suggesting a possible path for early screening.
- On Wednesday, October 14, 2026, researchers published a study in Frontiers in Immunology linking pediatric cancer to abnormal autoantibodies that disrupt essential DNA repair machinery.
- Senior researcher at the University of Bergen Anastassia Serguienko and emeritus professor of molecular oncology at the University of Bergen Ola Myklebost found these autoantibodies enter cells to immobilize DNA repair proteins, hindering genomic error correction.
- Analyzing samples from 175 patients and 59 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study and Born in Bradford cohorts, researchers found participants who later developed cancer were eight times more likely to carry these autoantibodies.
- The results point to the possibility of screening children to detect autoimmune predisposition to cancer early, potentially enabling preventative measures or earlier disease detection in at-risk populations.
- Dr. Yvonne Saenger, a professor of medicine at Stony Brook University, called the concept "very interesting" for immunotherapy, while Myklebost plans to clone white blood cells to test cancer-causing effects in mice.
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13 Articles
A scientific study revealed antibodies targeting proteins responsible for repairing damage to DNA.
Scientists identify novel autoimmune driver behind DNA repair breakdown in childhood cancer
Researchers have found the first evidence for a previously unsuspected cause of pediatric cancer. They showed that children with such cancers were more likely than their healthy peers to produce ‘auto-antibodies’ targeting six proteins necessary for normal DNA repair. Likewise, they showed that young adults with cancer had greater amounts of these circulating antibodies already years before diagnosis.
Norwegian researchers make a promising breakthrough that could help predict cancer risk in later stages of life
Abnormal antibodies that disrupt DNA repair could explain childhood cancer
A team of scientists in Norway has found evidence for a new mechanism for the development of cancer in children: They seem to produce an unusual amount of aberrant antibodies against the building blocks that make up the DNA repair machinery, a diverse set of hundreds of proteins that identify and correct damage or errors in the genome.
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