Tumor therapy of melanoma in canine species
The aim of this project is to create immunotherapy for melanoma in canine species. Two approaches will be considered in this project.
- Therapeutic tumor vaccination can cure (immunogenic) tumors in animal models and is frequently tested in clinical trials in humans. Tumor antigens include tissue-specific proteins as well as neoantigens, expressed specifically in cancerous tissues.
- Besides the therapeutic tumor vaccination, the potential of a novel checkpoint inhibitor will be tested. Checkpoint inhibitors alleviate tumor-specific immune responses by either modulating Treg function or preventing programmed cell death in CD8 T cells. In this project, the use of anti-TNFR2 antibodies will be explored. TNFR2 is expressed on different immune cell subsets including Tregs (but also activated CD8 T cells), expression on Treg correlates with potent immunosuppressive capacity.
Contact
Esther Hindriks