The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $379,981 Project Grant (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) to Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) to develop a localized cancer immunotherapy using particle-anchored cytokines. The primary objective is to enhance the local retention of immunostimulatory cytokines, such as IL-12 and IL-15, within tumors to drive anti-tumor immune responses while avoiding systemic toxicity associated with systemic cytokine administration. The research aims to (1) develop liposome-anchored cytokines with prolonged tumor retention and minimal systemic leakage, and (2) elucidate the mechanisms by which particle-anchored cytokines elicit durable anti-tumor immunity to improve efficacy in poorly immunogenic tumors. This work is expected to address the dose-limiting toxicity problem in the use of cytokines for cancer immunotherapy and provide a new treatment option for difficult-to-treat solid tumors when combined with other immunotherapies.
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