Scott Antonia, Wilton Williams, Joyce Hwang, Mihai Azoitei, Anthony Moody, Ned Patz, Daniel Wrapp, and Barton Haynes have initiated a new program on cancer immunotherapy at DHVI that is a collaboration between DHVI and the Duke Cancer Institute. This program has three areas of current research, all aimed at turning the immune system to attack tumor cells.
“We are continuing with this promising initial work and are now expanding the joint project with Williams and DHVI to identify more of these tumor-specific antibodies and develop more antibody-based anti-cancer therapeutics,” said Scott Antonia, MD, director of the Duke Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Immunology.
Joyce Hwang, Mihai Azoitei, Daniel Wrapp, and Barton Haynes have developed a new form of cancer cell treatment that is proving useful for targeting leukemic cells in animal models, as well as enhancing the ability of normal immune cells to kill tumor cells.
This immune treatment is an antibody that both targets a molecule called HLA-E on tumor cells and in doing so, enhances normal CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells to kill tumor cells. This treatment is also being used to attack latently HIV-infected CD4+ T cells as well as latently TB-infected macrophages. This is a new area of cancer immunotherapy using antibodies to release T cells and NK cells to kill tumor cells by binding to a molecule called HLA-E.
Learn more about the Duke Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Immunology