DR-040 Utilizing neoantigens to treat pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-realated deaths in the world. Current therapeutic options including chemo-, radio- and combinational therapy are not giving satisfactory results. Therefore, there is an emerging need to develop a novel, effective targeted therapy. Immunotherapy engaging the patient’s own immune system is among the newest approaches to target and destroy tumor cells. The immune system can be trained to recognize cancer specific antigens that are encoded by tumor-specific mutated genes (neoantigens). By analysing the seqeuncing data provided by Hartwig Medical Foundation, a list of the most common neoantigens in pancreatic cancer patients will be generated and utilized to synthesize specific peptides in the form of an off-the-shelf vaccine ready to be used for a broad audience. This project is part of the Oncolytic Virus Immune Therapy (OVIT) consortium aiming to employ viro-immunotherapy to treat patients with aggressive cancer types.

Casper van Eijck Erasmus MC the Netherlands