Immunotherapy and tumor cell resilience

Identification of key genes and molecular processes involved in tumor resilience to immunotherapy

In the last few years, the field of immunotherapy has been leading major progress in the fight against cancer. The basics of these therapies rely on the capacity of CD8 T cells and NK cells to recognize and induce the killing of cancer cells. The death of the target cells is dependent on the induction of complex cell death mechanisms, initiated by the formation of pores at the plasma membrane. The onset of tumor resilience to immunotherapy remains a challenge, limiting the uses of this targeted therapy as the main line of treatment.

The Stefani lab is working to better understand cancer cell response to immune mediated attack. We aim to identify key genes and molecular processes involved in tumor resilience to immunotherapy.