Oncolytic virus-based immunotherapy for lymphoma: harnesing the power of dendritic cells

Lymphomas are the 5th-10th most common cancers in most countries worldwide.

Low-grade B cell lymphomas, the most common lymphoma types, are generally incurable due to relapses and therapy-resistance, and there is an urgent need for novel and mechanistically distinct treatment strategies.

This project will develop a unique oncolytic virus-based in situ cancer vaccination that takes advantage of the body’s own immune system to efficiently target tumor cells and has real potential to overcome the limitations of current therapies.

The treatment approach will be evaluated in vivo in an established lymphoma mouse model for efficacy against tumor-specific neoantigen responses, but also in a novel model with high tumor heterogeneity that more closely recapitulates human tumors.

Importantly me and my team will also use human and where applicable, patient-derived, tumors and immune cells to validate murine data.

We will use state-of-the-art methodology, like spectral flow cytometry and confocal imaging, single cell-RNA and TCR sequencing for in-depth characterization of the immune response to treatment.

This will substantially improve our understanding on the mechanisms underlying a successful treatment approach and uncover mechanisms of treatment resistance.

The project is expected to provide a safe strategy that is more efficient than current therapies, and that can be translated into clinical trials to treat lymphomas and other cancers.