When oncology meets neurology – a tale of two tissues

In the world of biotech, one rarely expects Alzheimer’s breakthroughs to emerge from cancer research – and yet, at this year’s Alzheimer's Association® International Conference (AAIC), OncoC4, Inc. rather unexpectedly took to the neurology stage. Known for its immune-oncology work, the Maryland-based company unveiled data on an antibody originally designed for solid tumors that, it seems, may have something to say about amyloid, tau and microglia too.

ONC-841, an immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting SIGLEC 10, was built to outwit cancer’s evasive maneuvers; now, it’s being proposed as a first-in-class immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s disease. The hypothesis is intriguing – and just provocative enough to make the neuroimmunologists shift in their seats. If SIGLEC 10 is more than a cancer accomplice and also a mischief-maker in microglia, then targeting it might restore these resident immune cells to their housekeeping duties – clearing plaques, calming inflammation and perhaps even preserving cognition.

Of course, we’ve been here before – in spirit, if not in molecular detail. Alzheimer’s, like so many chronic diseases of aging, has drawn interest from all quarters: metabolic, vascular, glymphatic, mitochondrial. The immunological camp, however, has often struggled for traction, caught between an overactive inflammatory response and the brain’s notoriously tight immunoregulation. But SIGLEC 10? Now that is a fresh villain – one that may be orchestrating decline not through inherited mutations but by quietly changing the rules of immune engagement.

There’s a certain elegance in the idea that a treatment designed to unmask tumors could also liberate microglia from their torpor. And while it’s early days (mouse models are clever, but rarely clairvoyant), this line of inquiry could mark a welcome convergence – a merging of oncology and neurology, of immune escape and cognitive collapse.

What intrigues me most, though, is not simply the possibility of a new Alzheimer’s therapeutic; it’s the growing recognition that disease is less about which organ fails and more about which system is out of balance. The immune system, after all, does not respect our neat clinical silos – and perhaps neither should we.

If you’re curious about how ONC-841 may shape the next chapter in neurodegenerative drug development – and whether SIGLEC 10 might soon be as familiar to neurologists as it is to immunologists – the full article is here: Cancer-focused biotech makes Alzheimer’s breakthrough

It’s a reminder that the brain is not a world apart – and that sometimes, a molecule meant for one battlefield finds a second front.

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