Periodic Reporting for period 4 - SweetAim (Selective glycoimmuno-targeting for cancer therapy)
Reporting period: 2021-06-01 to 2022-11-30
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and new therapies are still needed. The primary objective of this proposal is to design a novel cancer therapeutic approach and to address the challenges faced by the study of carbohydrates immune recognition. It is based on findings that some tumor-associated carbohydrates can be targeted for cancer therapy. We investigated the potential of robust effective targeting of tumor-carbohydrates with antibodies both in vitro and in vivo. This research is has provided tools for designing novel therapeutics, imaging and diagnostics for cancer and for other chronic inflammation-related diseases, that are very important to reduce cancer burden for the benefit of society.
We investigated carbohydrates as targets for antibody therapy in cancer. We explored the different factors that affect carbohydrate binding and recognition and developed several methods to improve antibody recognition and cancer killing potential both through passive therapy, as well as through active cancer vaccine design.
We have already published fifteen papers and submitted 8 patents related to the use of antibodies for cancer diagnostics and therapy.