MIMO (Miltenyi Máxima Immune Oncology): Immune-oncology program for paediatric solid tumours

MIMO is a collaboration between researchers in the Princess Máxima Centre and the company Miltenyi Biotec B.V. & Co. KG. The MIMO project aims to establish a diagnostic methodology to identify intervention targets in the tumour microenvironment to improve CAR-T cell therapy success for children with solid cancers.

About 50% of children with solid tumours will die of the cancer. Neuroblastoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, and Osteosarcoma are both the most dangerous and most common solid tumours in children. The intensive chemotherapy-based treatments are only moderately effective and have many lifelong side-effects. New CAR-T cell therapies have much less side-effects and show great promise in curing patients with blood cancers. However, these therapies are not yet effective in solid tumours. There is rising evidence that the problem is the abundance of suppressive factors within solid tumours, known as the tumour microenvironment.

The MIMO project will create one of the largest childhood tumour microenvironment databases, combining unique molecular data at the single-cell level. Using Artificial Intelligence and computer algorithms, we will identify therapeutic targets to counteract suppressive factors in the tumour. These potential therapies will then be tested in tumour models in the lab.

MIMO is the largest study of childhood cancer tumour microenvironment in the world. Through this project, we will identify the much-needed combination therapies to make CAR-T cell therapy effective against solid tumours in children. This could shift childhood cancer treatment in the near future from toxic chemotherapy to targeted immunotherapy, reducing lifelong side effects and increasing the number of children who will recover from cancer.