What if your own tumors could be converted to help fight ovarian cancer?

Ovarian cancer patients who beat the odds and survive advanced cancer develop an immune command center within their tumor. These lymph node-like structures are called tertiary lymphoid organs and they reprogram the immune cells to attack the tumor and retain immune “memories” of the tumor. The goal of this project is to develop injectable lymphoid organs from the patient’s own blood cells to treat their ovarian cancer. Next, we will screen ovarian cancer cell lines and patient immune cells to identify which ovarian cancer subtypes may benefit from this approach right away. Finally, we will test the efficacy of injectable lymphoid organs in reducing tumor growth and recurrence in vivo and in vitro.

Topic 6: Revolutionary Breakthroughs