A new combined immunotherapy

Immunotherapy has become an established pillar of cancer treatment. By activating the cancer-killing T cells, tumours shrank and survival rates improved. However, this anti-tumour immunotherapy was not effective in fighting non-T cell-inflamed cancers such as hepatocellular carcinoma. In the novel study, it discovered a cancer-promoting gene that is immune cell-excluded. Inhibiting this gene can increase the infiltration of T cells in the tumour. Further findings have been proved in the mice model that the combination of immunotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade can control tumour with no evidence of toxicity. (Sci Transl Med. 2021 Apr 7;13(588):eaaz6804. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaz6804.)

Anyone interested in future collaboration in this field of research is welcome to contact our key investigator Prof. Alfred CHENG in the School of Biomedical Sciences, CUHK. Prof. Cheng’s research focuses on cancer epigenetics, tumour immunology and immunotherapy, enhancer regulation and molecular pathogenesis of liver cancer.