UT Southwestern Medical Center
Ultrasound-guided STING activation with Spatial and Temporal Precision to Improve Pancreatic Cancer Response to Immunotherapy
Overview
Aim: Treatment / Therapy
Immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, have revolutionized cancer treatment, inducing long-term remission in a subset of patients. However, pancreatic cancer presents a significant challenge, as its tumors often exhibit a highly immunosuppressive microenvironment (cold tumors), a key factor in immunotherapy resistance. A promising approach to overcome this barrier is to convert these cold tumors into hot tumors (immunopermissive microenvironments) by delivering immune-boosting molecules directly to immune cells. Unfortunately, no current strategy offers both targeted and controlled delivery of such treatments.
To address this critical need, we have developed a novel technology called MUSIC (Microbubble-assisted Ultrasound-guided Immunotherapy of Cancer). MUSIC enables efficient, on-demand drug delivery guided by ultrasound, allowing for precise activation of immune cells with both spatial and temporal control. Through this Seed Grant, our goal is to demonstrate that the MUSIC platform can enhance the therapeutic response of pancreatic cancer to FDA-approved immunotherapies. We will collaborate with pancreatic cancer expert and 2017 Seed Grant Awardee Matteo Ligorio, MD, PhD, to test the efficacy of the MUSIC platform in a genetically engineered murine model that closely mimics human pancreatic cancer biology.