New dawn of cancer treatment: precise tumor immunotherapy

On November 14th, the “OFweek 2017 (2nd) China Medical Technology Conference” hosted by OFweek China Hi-Tech Industry Portal and the High-Tech Association was held in Shenzhen. Zhang Yi, the director/professor of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, elaborated on the precise clinical application of the tumor immunology method in the keynote speech of “Accurate Tumor Immunotherapy”. He shared many experiences and rich experience in his research. Problems and solutions encountered in the study.

Zhang Yi is the director of the Center for Biological Immunotherapy of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. He is a professor and doctoral tutor. He has been engaged in tumor biotherapy for nearly 30 years and has a deep knowledge of tumor immunotherapy. He has studied in Belgium and the United States for more than 10 years. His main research areas are the application of tumor vaccines and specific immune cells in cancer therapy, and the relationship between stem cells and immunity.

He has participated in and undertaken more than 20 topics including the National 973 Research Project, the European Union Research Program, the American Cancer Institute Fund, the American Cancer Society Fund, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In June 2010, he returned to China full-time, established a biological cell therapy center in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and carried out international leading biological treatment. He is good at the diagnosis and treatment of biological treatment and intractable diseases of various malignant tumors.

Professor Zhang Yi said: "Tumor immunotherapy is a field that has made rapid progress in anti-tumor research and clinical application in recent years. Currently, clinically effective tumor immunotherapy including PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibody and CAR -T cell therapy, etc., how these immunotherapy methods for cancer patients are accurately applied to clinical practice is the focus of current research."

Tumor immunotherapy has become the fourth type of cancer treatment after surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and it is the frontier and hot spot of international research, which may completely change the direction of cancer treatment. Professor Zhang focused on the anti-tumor immune mechanism of TCR gene-modified T cells and elaborated on tumor immunotherapy from the perspective of clinical application.

The technique of TCR transgenic T cells for treating tumors has been applied in tumors such as melanoma, synovial sarcoma, esophageal cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, myeloma and colorectal cancer, and has achieved good clinical results. Most of these solid tumors are clinically clinical. The trials are safe, but there are also TCR transgenic T cells to recognize the widespread expression of antigens and cross-recognition of antigens. Therefore, the focus of research is how to select the appropriate target antigen, affinity of TCR, and overcome single target recognition. Off-target and tumor microenvironment immunosuppression.

The polymorphism of TCR provides sufficient breadth for T cell therapy for different tumor variant genes; based on high-throughput gene sequencing and big data analysis of tumor patients, screening for highly immunogenic new antigen (neo-antigen), rich Accurate T cells for new antigens are collected and amplified after amplification.

Current clinical trials have confirmed the clinical application of solid tumors. In addition, they also face problems such as the number and function of reintroduced T cells, the problem of HLA and antigen expression on the surface of the tumor, and the combined application of cytokines.

To improve the clinical application of TCR gene therapy, the following major problems need to be solved: the affinity of TCR, the expression of TCR, the appropriate antigen selection, the elimination of immunosuppression, the targeting of multiple tumor antigen targets, and the combination. Immunotherapy, etc.

In recent years, a series of breakthroughs have been made in tumor immunotherapy, and immunotherapy will completely change the current status of cancer treatment. The success of immunotherapy has not only revolutionized the effects of cancer treatment, but also revolutionized the concept of treating cancer, bringing new dawn to the treatment of cancer!

More exciting content, please pay attention to the follow-up special report of OFweek Medical Technology Network!