CANCER IMMUNOLOGY

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The scientific goal of the Cancer Immunology (Cl) Program at the Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) is to understand the basic mechanisms by which the immune system is regulated in cancer and to apply these discoveries to the development of immunotherapy trials. Led by Zihai Li, MD, PhD an immunologist and board-certified hematopoietic stem cell transplant physician, the Cl Program currently has 19 members representing 4 departments in the College of Medicine. Members hold 29 active grants (13 NCI) totaling $5.5M in annual total research project funding ($5.4M in peer-reviewed projects; $3.2M NCI), representing a 67% growth during this project period. The recruitment of 11 new scientists to the program since 2009 has greatly strengthened the breadth and depth of the science within the program. The three themes of the Cl Program are: ¿ Cancer Inflammation & Immune Tolerance: the role of inflammation and cross-talk between the innate and adaptive immune systems in cancer. ¿ T-Cell Biology & Therapy: T-cell mediated anti-tumor mechanisms and the development and optimization of novel cell-based therapies. ¿ Antibody, Complement, & Transplant-based Therapies: cross-cutting studies into antibody, complement, and transplant-based immunotherapeutic strategies. In the current funding period, the HCC Cl Program has clearly demonstrated success in nurturing groundbreaking basic research initiatives and has initiated several clinical applications from these findings. In the past five years, Cl Program members produced 119 cancer immunology-based publications with 29% of these representing inter-programmatic and 25% intra-programmatic collaborations and 45% from multiinstitutional collaborations.