Gamma delta T cell features in human cancer - Implications for immunotherapy

In recent years, the unconventional subset of γδ T cells has received an increased interest in the scientific community.

Their potent anti-tumor functions and many favorable features are attractive for use in personalized immunotherapy of cancer. However, our knowledge about their role in human cancer is still insufficient.

Here we aim to unravel their immunobiology in two settings; 1. in hematological malignancies post hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and 2. In solid tumors, where we have chosen ovarian cancer as model. Our goal is to explore the use of γδ T cells in immunotherapy and provide a starting point for such strategies.

The collections of patient material from both HSCT patients and ovarian cancer patients is ongoing since many years.

We now plan to explore γδ T cells in breadth and depth in both settings over the course of five years using various methods including CyTOF, next-generation sequencing, RNA sequencing and flow cytometry. With these methods, we will phenotypically, clonotypically, and functionally characterize γδ T cell subsets.

Importantly, we will explore how the anti-tumor functions can be unleashed using various approaches including use of bispecific antibodies.

This project will contribute with new fundamental knowledge of γδ T cells, which can lead to improved outcome for HSCT patients and design of new γδ T cell-based immunotherapy for cancer patients