Solid tumours, including cancers of the breast, lung, bowel and pancreas, remain among the greatest challenges in cancer medicine. Although T cell-based immunotherapies have transformed cancer treatment, responses are still limited to a subset of patients, and many tumours eventually develop resistance to these therapies.
Dr Galvez-Cancino's work will explore an alternative and complementary approach: harnessing the ability of myeloid cells – immune cells that can clear unwanted or harmful material – to recognise and destroy cancer cells.
The project will focus on a process known as antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis, in which antibodies help direct immune cells towards tumour cells so they can engulf them. By better understanding and enhancing this mechanism within the tumour microenvironment, the research aims to lay the foundations for promising, more potent immunotherapies for patients with solid cancers.
Dr Galvez-Cancino said: "This fellowship gives us the opportunity to develop a new and exciting idea: using the natural ability of myeloid cells within solid tumours to eat cancer cells. Our long-term vision is to carry out fundamental science that can ultimately lead to new and more potent therapeutics, benefiting patients and families affected by cancer."
Commenting on receiving the Fellowship, Dr Galvez-Cancino said: "This award reflects a collective effort and would not have been possible without the hard work of my laboratory team, the support and mentorship of colleagues across the Centre for Immuno-Oncology, and the academic environment provided by the University of Oxford. I am very grateful to have had the time and space to develop this research."
Pictured above left to right
Jamie D’ Costa (PhD student), Maria Armero (PhD student)m, Devon Weterings (Postdoc), Arantxa Agesta (Postdoc), Sophia Hu (Research Assistant), Zita Aretz (Postdoc)
