IMMUNOFIRE – Lighting the Fire in Immuno-cold Pediatric Brain Tumors

Brain tumors in children are often not recognized by the patient’s immune system because of deregulated immune cells that help the tumor and silence the immune system. This fundamental project aims to activate these deregulated cells against childhood brain tumors using nanobiologic therapeutics. This is a partnership of Trained Therapeutix Discovery (TTxD) and The Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology.
 

Children with brain tumors, 120 per year in the Netherlands, often have a bad survival, varying from 0% for diffuse midline glioma to 70% in medulloblastoma. Those who are cured often have serious disabilities. New treatments are desperately needed for these cancers treat more effectively and prevent damage to the developing brain, leading to better survival and quality of life. Activating the immune system against these cancers is a promising approach.

In this fundamental research project, we will isolate both immune and tumor cells from 30 high-grade brain cancer patients. In-depth characterization of their suppressive state will be performed. Next, we will expose immune cells from blood and bone marrow of these patients to nanobiologics and will measure whether these cells are activating the immune system against these cancers. This will be done by looking at killing capacity of T-lymphocytes activated against tumor cells.

Upon successful completion of this project, we have generated a clear rationale and potential  pathway to early-stage clinical trial development for safety and preliminary efficacy of nanobiologics in brain tumor immunotherapy. This will hopefully in the future improve survival rates and quality of life for this patient population.