Immunotherapeutic Strategies Targeting TME

Relying on the technology platform of the tumor microenvironment center, Alfa Cytology provides a full range of solutions and services for the study of immunotherapy strategies targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), helping researchers successfully achieve their research goals.

Introduction

Immune cells and related stromal components recruited and activated by tumor cells form a tumor suppressive inflammatory microenvironment during the early stage of tumor colonization or growth, thus preventing tumor development. After continuous tumor antigen stimulation and immune activation, the relevant effector cells in the microenvironment are depleted or remodeled and cannot function normally or even promote the malignant phenotype of tumor, resulting in an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Since the major cellular components that maintain the immunosuppressive microenvironment also play an anti-tumor role in the early stage of tumor progression, the immunotherapeutic strategy of targeting TME can be used to stimulate or restore the inherent tumor suppressive ability of the immune system, reshape the positive immune microenvironment, and produce a comprehensive response.

Solutions

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays an important role in tumor malignant progression, immune escape and treatment resistance. The development of safe and effective immunotherapies based on TME characteristics is currently a hot topic in antitumor technology research. Meanwhile, individualized TME characteristics, as the main cause of immunotherapy tolerance, are yet to be discovered for reasonable applicable populations and combination therapy regimens in order to optimize the existing immunotherapy strategies. Alfa Cytology has established an innovative tumor microenvironment center technology platform and is developing several technologies that aims to help global collaborators to study immunotherapy strategies targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME). We deeply investigate diversified TME and immunotherapy strategies based on TME characteristics and immune status to provide clues and basis for individualized precision immunotherapy.

Key strategies

Unlike adaptive mutations and acquired drug resistance generated by tumor cells cumulatively, immunotherapy strategies targeting TME have better stability advantages. Due to the two-sided nature of TME function, interventions require precise modulation of the balance of TME tumor suppressive or tumor promoting ability. Immunotherapeutic strategies that Alfa Cytology can assist with may include, but are not limited to:

• Immune checkpoint blocking antibodies
• Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell technology (CAR-T)
• T-cell receptor chimeric T-cell technology (TCR-T)
• Lyso-viral therapy
• Targeting the tumor stroma

Commonly used methods are to reduce stromal stiffness and fibrosis, and to improve immune cell infiltration and drug delivery. For example, TGF-b can be used as a target for the development of new immunotherapeutic strategies against impaired immune cell infiltration in inflammatory TME, and can be used to evaluate the effects of immunotherapy in patients with impaired immune cell infiltration.

• Targeting other cells in TME

For example, IDO, a tryptophan catabolic enzyme produced by tumor cells and host cells in TME, can contribute to Treg cell activation and increase MDSC infiltration. Therefore, the use of IDO inhibitors in combination with CTLA-4, PD-1 monoclonal antibodies and CAR-T cell therapy has been shown to be effective for tumors.

Note: The key strategies we focus on are always up to date, please contact us by email for more up-to-date and relevant information.

Alfa Cytology is committed to supporting scientists in making breakthrough scientific discoveries and developing new applications to accelerate new drug discovery and scientific diagnosis and treatment. Our high-performance scientific instruments and high-value solutions enable scientists to explore the mysteries of life at the tumor microenvironment level. Please tell us your project requirements, and we will provide you with a full service from solution to report. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.