Betty Kim, Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Cancer immunotherapies targeting adaptive immune checkpoints have substantially improved patient outcomes across multiple metastatic and treatment- refractory cancer types. However, emerging studies have demonstrated that innate immune checkpoints, which interfere with the detection and clearance of malignant cells through phagocytosis and suppress innate immune sensing, also have a key role in tumor- mediated immune escape and might, therefore, be potential targets for cancer immunotherapy. Indeed, preclinical studies and early clinical data have established the promise of targeting phagocytosis checkpoints, such as the CD47–signal regulatory protein α (SIRPα) axis, either alone or in combination with other cancer therapies. We will discuss some of our recent work on developing new strategies to target tumor cell phagocytosis regulation pathways as effective immunotherapy to generate innate and adaptive antitumour immune responses.
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