PROTAC enabled avenues for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) immunotherapy

鼻咽癌（NPC）是一种影响喉咙内壁的癌症。在大多数情况下，NPC出现在后期，存活率很低。目前的治疗仅限于化疗和放疗，并且与显著的发病率和较差的生活质量有关。鼻咽癌总是由eb病毒（EBV）感染驱动，这是一个有吸引力的免疫治疗靶点。eb病毒核抗原1 （EBNA1）是一种EBV蛋白，对感染细胞的存活至关重要。该项目将开发一种全新的靶向EBNA1的分子，并可用于鼻咽癌免疫治疗——使人体自身的免疫系统对抗癌症。

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of cancer that affects the lining of the throat. In most cases, NPC presents at a late stage and survival is poor. Current treatments are limited to chemo-and radio-therapy and are associated with significant morbidity and poor quality of life. NPC is always driven by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and this is an attractive immunotherapeutic target. Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1), an EBV protein, is essential for the survival of infected cells. This project will develop an entirely new class of molecules that target EBNA1 and can be used for NPC immunotherapy - enabling the bodies own immune system to fight the cancer.