The tumor immune environment can be thought of as an ecosystem-like network of interacting cells, signaling molecules, extracellular matrix, and mechanical cues that can support tumor growth, protect the tumor from host immunity, foster therapeutic resistance, and support metastases.

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The Cancer Vaccine Institute is focused on immune modulation strategies to create “danger” or “rejection” signals that make the tumor appear more dangerous to the immune system and transform the tumor-immune environment from tumor protecting to tumor killing. Our group is actively evaluating multiple immumodulatory approaches that could be used alone or in combination with vaccination and T-cell therapy to remodel the tumor immune environment and stimulate an effective anti-tumor immune response. These strategies include the activation of antigen presenting cells via stimulation of toll like receptors (TLRs) and elimination of immune suppressive cell populations (Tregs and MDSC), leading to enhanced local cytokine production and a Th1-polarized microenvironment that favors tumor cell killing by cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

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The activity of the gut microbiome has been linked to the development of cancer. It has been shown that the particular make-up of one’s microbiome can influence the success of certain immunotherapies. Our group has made a novel discovery that an immune response to some gut bacteria may be suppressing immunity to cancer cells, and currently we are looking at how changing the make-up of the gut bacteria using ‘probiotics’ might be able to bypass this suppression of the immune system and make our vaccines more effective.