Research

Our Research Focus

Understanding immune evasion and finding new vulnerabilities

We investigate how diverse cancers survive by evading immune attack, dissecting the cellular, genetic, and microenvironmental mechanisms—such as altered antigen presentation, suppressive myeloid and regulatory lymphoid populations, and mutation-driven neoantigen loss—that permit immune escape. Our ultimate goal is to translate those insights into novel therapeutic strategies that reprogram the tumor microenvironment, restore effective antitumor immunity, and overcome resistance to existing treatments through targeted combination therapies, biomarker-guided patient selection, and engineered immune effectors to ultimately convert immunologically “cold” tumors into “hot” tumors responsive to durable immune control.

Latest Publications

Targeting DHX9 Triggers Tumor-Intrinsic Interferon Response and Replication Stress in Small Cell Lung Cancer Cancer Discov. (2024) Murayama T, Nakayama J, Jiang X, Miyata K, Morris AD, Cai KQ, Prasad RM, Ma X, Efimov A, Belani N, Gerstein ER, Tan Y, Zhou Y, Kim W, Maruyama R, Campbell KS, Chen L, Yang Y, Balachandran S, Cañadas I.

Our recent study found that DHX9 suppresses tumor-intrinsic innate immune responses and increases replication stress, making it a promising therapeutic target for small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Ongoing Projects

Awakening innate immunity in cancer cells

Question: What prevents cancer cells from activating their own immune alarm systems?

Approach: We investigate how tumors control the detection of RNA and DNA, focusing on mechanisms that suppress innate immune signaling. Published work on DHX9 and TREX1 in small-cell lung cancer provides a foundation for exploring how these defenses might be reactivated.

Connecting RNA biology genome stability and immunity

Question: How does the way a cancer cell manages RNA and DNA shape its survival?

Approach: We study the mechanisms that regulate R-loops, structures formed when RNA pairs with DNA. Our aim is to understand how their regulation connects DNA replication stress with immune signaling and to identify vulnerabilities arising from these connections.

Understanding treatment resistance

Question: How do cancer cells survive therapy, and can those adaptations expose new weaknesses?

Approach: We investigate links between treatment resistance and immune evasion. By understanding the mechanisms that support resistant cells, we aim to identify targets and combinations that could improve antitumor responses.

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