In healthy tissues, the body’s immune system is constantly looking for and destroying foreign pathogens and pre-cancerous/cancerous cells. For cancers to initiate and grow, they need to be able to evade this so-called immunosurveillance. A better understanding of how cancers evade immunosurveillance is needed to improve and develop new immune-based cancer treatments and prevention strategies, such as vaccination.
Dr David Church (Centre for Human Genetics, Nuffield Department of Medicine) has been awarded a prestigious Senior Cancer Research Fellowship by Cancer Research UK to study how immunosurveillance is disrupted in colorectal and endometrial pre-cancers and cancers. His research will focus on the dysregulation of two key complexes, called MHCI and MHC-II, that normally display foreign or damaged proteins to be recognised by the immune system.
On receiving the award, David said, “I am delighted to receive this fellowship, which will provide a secure platform for our research for the next six years. I am grateful to my group, many collaborators and patient representatives whose support was crucial.”
“This funding will allow us to take great strides in improving our understanding of how cancers evade the immune system and will be essential for developing better cancer treatments and informing new cancer preventatives.”