Tumor Immunology group

The Tumor Immunology group investigates the interplay between the immune system and cancer with a main focus on two types of immune cells, namely tumor-specific T cells and macrophages. Enhancing the natural immune responses against tumors has an immense therapeutic potential. In fact, immunotherapy has now established itself as one of the pillars of cancer treatment. Our research vision is to increase the understanding of how the immune system naturally fights cancer in order to develop novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy. We perform both in vivo and in vitro experiments with experimental mouse models (for lung, colon and breast cancer), cell lines, and tumor tissue from patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). On the basis of our previous findings, we focus our research on the mechanisms whereby tumor-specific CD4 T cells and macrophages collaborate to recognize and eliminate malignant cells.