Boosting the immune system to help it find and kill lymphoma cells
Background
T cells are a type of immune cell that have the ability to recognise and kill tumour cells. However, when tumours have grown too big, these T cells become inactive. This is a major obstacle to using immune-based therapies as a way to treat lymphoma. A better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to the inactivation of T cells is urgently needed so that strategies to overcome this inactivation can be developed.
The research
This research project will use a powerful microscope to identify how tumour cells deactivate T cells. The team will implement a special nanotechnology that could potentially ‘rescue’ these inactivated T cells so that they can continue to find and kill cancer cells.
The impact
Ultimately, this research could lead to a new form of cancer therapy that targets the immune system with minimal side effects for the patient.