PICI Network In the News | Highlights

The?Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy ?(PICI) is committed to turning all cancers into curable diseases faster, with a relentless focus on science, collaboration, patients and bold action. The #PICINetwork gives life to this pursuit, pushing novel immunotherapy research forward with partnerships, events, awards and individual accomplishments.

Every month, we?round?up?PICI Network?news?to highlight collaborations between researchers, nonprofits and industry, highlighting the impact of our collective pursuits on the field.

Research Advances?

Insights from the work of James Allison, PhD, have led to the creation of medicines that have changed the face of cancer care, including for kidney cancers.

Scientists believe that giving patients a fiber-rich diet to nourish the microbiome might improve the odds that cancer immunotherapy is effective. Cited findings by PICI Network members and others have shown?that every five-gram increase in daily fiber intake was associated with a 30% lower risk of death or cancer progression.

This special issue of Science Translational Medicine focuses on immune checkpoint therapy and other approaches to modulating tumor-immune interactions such as CAR T cells, cytokine-based therapies and vaccines. Content?includes the following by PICI Network members:??

• An?Editorial ?by Padmanee Sharma and James Allison about recent advances in immune checkpoint therapy?
• A?Viewpoint ?by Juraj Adamik and Lisa Butterfield about innovations in cancer vaccines?
• A?Review ?by David Mai, Carl June and Neil?Sheppard of emerging technologies that are enabling the delivery and modulation of genes in immune cells or tumor cells in vivo to drive antitumor immunity?
• A?Research Article ?by Justin Eyquem, Alexander Marson, Jeffrey Bluestone, Kole T. Roybal and others about using CAR Pooling to rapidly identify strategies to improve CAR T cells?
• A?Research Article ?by Sierra McDonald, Andrew?Rech, Dana Hammill and others about BLIMP1 and NR4A3 transcription factors reciprocally regulating antitumor CAR T cell stemness and exhaustion?

A small clinical trial – the first study to use gene editing to treat patients with cancer – has shown that researchers can use CRISPR to alter immune cells so they will recognize mutated proteins specific to a person’s tumors. According to the study, those cells can then be safely set loose in the body to find and destroy their target.?

Jim Heath discusses the paper in?this video ?with fellow authors Toni Ribas, Susan Foy and Stefanie Mandl. Read more from?BBC News ,?USA Today ?and?STAT .

UC San Francisco researchers have developed a new method for comparing massive numbers of CAR-T cells, each with slightly different molecular features, to determine which is most effective and long-lasting against cancer.

Carl June, MD, and Daniel Baker?discuss?highly promising early results for CAR T therapy in a small set of patients with lupus.

Using a senescence-inducible mouse model of liver cancer, a study by 纪念斯隆-凯特琳癌症中心 ’s Scott Lowe, PhD, and others found senescent cells have a dramatically altered ability to send and receive environmental signals — including a rewired tissue-sensing program that can be induced therapeutically to enhance anti-tumor immunity.

Research Meetings

Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) noted presentations include work by the following PICI Network members:?

• TCR T Cell Therapy Targeting Neoantigens in Solid Tumors — "A Phase I study of personalized adoptive TCR T cell therapy in patients with solid tumors: safety, efficacy, and T cell trafficking to tumors of non-virally gene edited T cells" (Abstract 1478 ). Co-lead author: Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD. Co-authors include Jim Heath, PhD; David Oh, MD, PhD; and Katie Campbell, PhD
• Identifying Public Neoantigens from Driver Mutations — "Immunogenic landscape and therapeutic targeting of mutant NRAS 'public' neoantigens" (Abstract 218 ). Presenter and first author: Inaki Etxeberria, PhD. Senior author: Christopher Klebanoff, MD. Co-authors include Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD, and Taha Merghoub, PhD

Learn about?other PICI-related presentations .

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Researchers present on advances in treating HPV-positive head and neck cancers, new microbiome signatures linked to response, and encouraging data from novel immunotherapy drugs.

PICI Early Career Researchers Offer Perspectives on SITC Studies

Healio featured commentary by four members of the 2022 cohort of Parker Institute Early Career Researchers on three studies presented at the annual meeting.

• Off-the-Shelf CAR-T Produces Complete Remission in Patient with Advanced Kidney Cancer ?(Abstract 558 )?
• Parker Bridge Fellow Bingfei Yu, PhD,?perspective ?
• Parker RISE Scholar Gabriel Abril Rodriguez, PhD,?perspective ?
• Fecal Transplant May Improve Response to Immunotherapy Among Patients With Melanoma ?(Abstract 614 )?
• Parker Scholar Inaki Etxeberria, PhD,?perspective ?
• Cancer Cell Therapy for Melanoma has Potential to Save ‘Thousands’ of Lives Each Year ?(Abstract 789 )??
• Parker Scholar Darwin Ye?perspective ?

Industry News

Awards & Recognition

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai honors medical pioneers in the tradition of Maria I. New, MD.

Stanford researcher Caleb Lareau, a member of the?2021 class ?of PICI Early Career Researchers, has been named a 2022 STAT Wunderkind.

Analysts award Highly Cited Researcher 2022 designations to 6,938 researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields over the last decade. Related press releases:?

• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ?
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center ?

Learn more at https://www.parkerici.org