Projects
Development of novel caspase-3 PET radiotracers for imaging immunotherapy responses. University of Antwerp
Effects of immunotherapy on the cellular landscape and immune milieu in locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. KU Leuven
Immunotherapy is successfully used to treat patients with various cancer
types. In pancreatic cancer however, immunotherapy does not seem to
influence patient survival. To address this, we are conducting a phase-II
clinical trial, in which immunotherapy is complemented with minimally invasive
microwave ablation (MWA) of the pancreatic cancer primary and with
systemic chemotherapy (MIMIPAC-trial, EudraCT ...
Improved PET probes for predicting and imaging immunotherapy responses. University of Antwerp
Studying the impact of programmed cancer cell death pathways on Type I interferons-based immunotherapy KU Leuven
Type I interferon (IFN) cytokines i.e. IFNα/β are potent defensive factors produced by our immune system to stop microbial infections. Due to their broad immunological activity, IFNα/β also have vital roles in sterile inflammatory diseases like cancer. Type I IFNs have diverse anticancer properties capable of causing tumour regression. These anticancer effects have driven the clinical prioritization of immunotherapies consisting of, or ...
Optimalization of immunotherapy in uterine sarcoma. KU Leuven
Development of a bispecific immunotracer against CD8 and CD69 for enhanced non-invasive imaging of immune responses during anti-cancer immunotherapy Vrije Universiteit Brussel
recognize and kill malignant tumor cells. Many types of immunotherapies have been developed with
generally favorable outcomes. However, not all patients benefit, and side effects vary greatly. Thus,
there is an unmet need for a personalized approach.
Currently, blood and tissue biomarkers are used to assess the patient's ...
Inducing neoantigens with cold atmospheric plasma to improve cancer immunotherapy. University of Antwerp
Developing combinatorial immunotherapy for glioblastoma KU Leuven
Nowadays, glioblastoma (GBM) represents an unmet medical need. Almost all GBM patients pass away from their illness, and there is still no effective treatment available. Numerous innovative therapies have been suggested, however despite encouraging preclinical findings, none of them were able to increase patient survival. In this study, we seek to develop a novel pharmaceutical product made up of various oncolytic viruses (OVs). We will ...
A Tumor Immune Micro Environment (TIME)-on-chip: an in vitro model for immuno-oncology and immunotherapy screening KU Leuven
The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) plays an important role in cancer development, progression, and response to therapy. The microenvironment can elicit pro- or anti-tumoral responses, depending on the cellular and non-cellular components involved in it. Cancer immunotherapy, which mobilizes the body’s immune system to fight cancer, has been proven to be both effective and unsuccessful in a clinical setting, depending on the nature of ...