Identification of Novel Tumour-Associated Antigens in Glioblastoma to Improve Anti-Tumour T-Cell Responses

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a devastating, incurable cancer. Treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy but tumours often return after treatment thus new therapies are needed. So far, results of immunotherapy trials have been disappointing, possibly due to the wrong choice of therapy and/or the failure of therapies to cross the blood-brain barrier (which protects the brain from pathogens in the blood).

Preliminary results and published data show that dysfunction of cancer-killing white blood cells (called T-cells) is a hallmark of GBM. The cancer creates a hostile environment that limits the ability of T-cells to kill cancer cells, allowing the tumour to grow unchecked. Therefore, improving T-cell responses within the tumour represents an important immunotherapy strategy.

Current therapeutic approaches aimed at improving T-cell responses have so far failed to induce a robust anti-cancer response. This may be due to the wrong targets used to activate the T-cells.

In this project, the aims are to:

1. Identify the barriers that stop T-cells from removing the cancer.

2. Identify novel T-cell targets (antigens) that can be used to boost anti-cancer T-cell responses.

This work will define novel T-cell targets that can boost and enrich anti-cancer T-cells, potentially improving immunotherapies and offer new strategies to enhance the survival of GBM patients.