Immunotherapy to combat solid tumours

Marc Veldhoen

Instituto Gulbenkian de Medicina Molecular (GIMM), Lisboa, Portugal

Despite advances in early diagnosis and treatment, cancer remains a huge challenge, requiring innovative therapeutic approaches. Traditional therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, have significant unwanted side effects, making new, more targeted and less toxic approaches highly necessary.

In the case of blood cancers, significant advances have been made with CAR-T cell therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, the success of these treatments in solid tumours remains limited. To address this challenge, this project will focus on a type of immune system cell, the tissue resident memory T lymphocytes, which are able to penetrate tissues and eliminate cancerous or infected cells. These cells could hold the key to improving cancer therapies by making them more targeted and effective.

The project team has developed and patented an in vitro protocol for the production of these memory T cells and their therapeutic application as an immunotherapy against cancer. In this project, they will explore whether this culture method works with human T lymphocytes, evaluate the efficacy of this memory T cell therapy in solid tumours in animal models, and study what happens when the application of these lymphocytes is combined with drugs that enhance the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.

Generating tissue resident memory T cells for cancer immunotherapy

Stage 1