The laboratory of Professor Vincenzo Cerundolo has won a CRUK Programme Grant for their work on development of vaccination strategies to enhance tumour specific immune responses.
Prof. Cerundolo said, 'We aim to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms which control the cell-cell interplay required for optimal activation of tumour-specific immune responses and to apply this knowledge to the development of better treatment of cancer patients. In the next quinquennium we will study the role of invariant NKT cells to enhance immune responses against tumours in combination with the intense local damage caused by radiation and chemotherapy and in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. We will also study innate and adaptive immune responses activated by intravesical BCG injection in Bladder cancer patients. Understanding the mechanisms by which CD1 restricted T cells are activated upon triggering of sterile and non-sterile inflammatory pathways will provide important insights into anti cancer therapeutic opportunities.'
