Study of the effect of bacterial infection on tumour immunology
Research type
Research Study
Full title
In-depth investigation of the cross-talk between bacteria, cancer cells and the immune system
IRAS ID
257743
Contact name
Livija Deban
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Prokarium Ltd.
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The research focuses on investigating the impact of bacteria on the biology of cancer cells and on anti-cancer immune responses. Some bacteria have a natural propensity to accumulate in tumours and we want to understand how their presence will affect the cancer cells and the immune cells trying to fight the cancer.
In the proposed study we will isolate immune cells (e.g. T cells, monocytes) from human blood and tumour samples and study their behaviour when they encounter cancer cells infected with bacteria. We will also study the changes that a cancer cell undergoes in response to bacterial infections with the aim of creating immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other inflammatory diseases. Immunotherapy is the treatment of disease by inducing, enhancing or suppressing an immune response. It can work to improve or restore immune system function and in cancer it can potentially work by:
- Stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells
- Stopping the cancer from spreading to other parts of the body
- Helping the immune system work better at destroying cancer cells.
Immunotherapies often have fewer side effects than existing drugs (e.g. chemotherapy), including less potential for creating resistance.Understanding the cross-talk between bacteria, tumour cells and immune cells will help us identify the best way of modulating the immune system to have the strongest anti-cancer effect.
REC name
London - Stanmore Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0179
Date of REC Opinion
1 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion