Research Team Develops Novel Strategy to Destroy Tumors

May 12, 2010 — Miami — Harnessing the immune system is emerging as one of the most promising new ways to fight cancer. Most cancer cells are eliminated by the immune system; however, over a lifetime, a few may escape this immune surveillance and lead to tumors and metastases. Hence a formidable opportunity has been to find ways to make the immune system recognize the tumor as a foreign body and trigger a response. A team of researchers at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine overcame this challenge and developed an entirely new method to induce the expression of antigens (the proteins recognized by the immune system) on the surface of tumor cells, thereby spurring a much more robust immune response. The finding could lead to a new therapy for patients with most forms of cancer, even the more aggressive tumors, in the foreseeable future. Eli Gilboa, Ph.D. Dodson Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and co-leader of the Tumor Immunology Program at Sylvester, led The research team consisted of Fernando Pastor, Ph.D., post doctoral associate at Sylvester, Despina Kolonias, M.S., senior research associate at Sylvester, and Paloma Giangrande, Ph.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa.