Searching the immune system for new cancer therapies Johanna Olweus - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Searching the immune system for new cancer therapies

Johanna Olweus

Department of Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, OUS Radiumhospitalet and Institute for Clinical Medicine, UiO K.G. Jebsen Center for Cancer Immunotherapy

Immune cells cure infections

40°C

Foreign

1

Danger signals → acute inflammation

2

Healthy cells not damaged

Single-cell surgery

3

Cancer cells are partly foreign to the immune cells

• so why does cancer develop?

NO inflammation

Tumor growth

Immune cells may tolerate cancer

NO killing Foreign

1 2 3

Science, Dec 20, 2013

Unleashing the immune cells

Checkpoint inhibitors

Passive

Unleashing the immune cells

Checkpoint inhibitors

Unleashing the immune cells

Disappearance of widespread disease in several cancer types Simulating inflammation

Need for new strategies

Can we make the immune system believe that cancer is an infection?

New immunotherapy in lymphoma

Kolstad A …. Olweus J, Blood 2015

Induce local inflammation …and kill cancer cells at multiple sites Trained immune cells migrate…

Can we support the immune system

• f a patient with the immune system
• f a donor?

Immune cells called natural killer cells were transferred from family members to leukemia patients with promising results

Courtesy of Prof. Björn Önfelt, Karolinska Institute

Natural killer cells can kill tumor cells

Arming patient immune cells with genetic ”missiles”

Gene-modified immune cells to cure cancer

Immune cells collected from patient

1

Insert of genetic missile towards cancer

2

Cells put back Single-cell surgery

3

Cancer

New research New strategies New hope