Improving the Efficacy of Immunotherapy

SLU ID 22-026 | Blockades of effector T cell senescence and exhaustion

Background

Current immunotherapies still have limited successful rates among cancers. It is now recognized that T cell functional state in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a key determinant for effective anti-tumor immunity and immunotherapy. In addition to exhaustion, cellular senescence in tumor-infiltrating T cells (TILs) has recently been identified as an important T cell dysfunctional state induced by various malignant tumors. Therefore, properly invoking the molecular mechanism responsible for T cell senescence in the TME and implementing strategies to prevent effector T cell senescence are urgently needed to improve cancer immunotherapy.

Overview

[Researchers at Saint Louis University have demonstrated that the novel concept of targeting both effector T cell senescence and exhaustion is an effective strategy for enhancing cancer immunotherapy.

Benefits

The potential benefits of this technology include:

• Increasing the efficacy of immunotherapies for treating various types of cancer

Applications

The potential applications of this technology include treating various types of cancer such as:

• lung cancer

• breast cancer

• melanoma

Opportunity

Saint Louis University is seeking a partner to further develop and commercialize this technology.