Create an Adult Immunotherapy Network

NCI has announced several funding opportunities that align with the Cancer Moonshot.

Immunotherapy leverages the ability of the immune system to recognize and destroy infected, damaged, and transformed cells. This type of cancer treatment often enhances the activity of immune cells called ‘effector T cells’, whose function is to kill cancer cells by distinguishing them from their normal counterparts. However, barriers remain and need to be addressed to improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy.

While there has been some promising success in treating certain cancers with immunotherapy, it has been less effective in others. It is often more difficult to safely and effectively target the cancer cells in solid tumors without harming normal tissues. The tumor’s microenvironment may also suppress the immune system, limiting its ability to fight off the cancer.

This recommendation is focused on creating an adult cancer immunotherapy translational network to overcome these barriers and develop immunotherapies that are effective for a diverse group of patients with various cancer types. In addition, the network aims to create vaccines that will aid effector T cells in recognizing cancers in their premalignant stages, effectively preventing new cancer cases.

Ultimately, the hope is to develop new immunotherapies and improve the effectiveness of current immunotherapy treatments to reduce the burden of cancer in adults.

NCI has awarded funding to several research projects that align with the panel's recommendation to address immunotherapy in adults:

The Immuno-Oncology Translational Network (IOTN)

This collaborative network is working to accelerate the discovery of new immune targets for cancer treatments and development of new immunotherapies to treat and prevent adult cancers. The IOTN consortium includes researchers who are investigating immune mechanisms involved in cancer progression, evaluating new immunotherapies, and developing preventive cancer vaccines. The network also has a Cellular Immunotherapy Data Resource that supports a data registry that collects information about adult patients receiving cell-based immunotherapies, which can inform future studies of immunotherapies.

The IOTN Data Management and Resource Sharing Center promotes collaboration between IOTN investigators and outreach of the network to the cancer research community.

NCI Center for Cell-Based Therapy (CCT)

NCI created an intramural cell-based therapy center that focuses on the use of living immune cells for cancer immunotherapies. The center supports the discovery and development of new cellular immunotherapies to treat cancer patients. The center is performing basic research of cell-based cancer therapies, accelerating translation of cell-based immunotherapy findings to the clinic, training scientists for immunotherapy studies, and providing cancer researchers with access to immunotherapy-related technologies.

Adult Immunotherapy Projects Awarded Cancer Moonshot Funding

Awarded Projects

Funding Opportunity	Project Title	Institution	Principal Investigator(s)
Immuno-Oncology Translational Network (IOTN): Cancer Immunotherapy Research Projects (U01)	Enhancing Cell Therapy for Brain Tumors	Children's Research Institute	Bollard, Catherine M; Cruz, Conrad Russell Young; Jones, Richard J; Savoldo, Barbara
	B Cell-Dependent Anti-Tumor Immunity in Ovarian Cancer	H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute	Conejo-Garcia, Jose R
	N-Glycosylation and Immunotherapy for Cancer	University of California - Irvine	Demetriou, Michael
	Immunosuppressive Mechanisms Responsible for Development of Non-Viral Liver Cancer and Control of its Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors	University of California - San Diego	Karin, Michael; El-Khoueiry, Anthony Boutros; Tsukamoto, Hidekazu
	Muc1-C is a Target for Reversing Immune Evasion and Resistance to Immunotherapies	Dana Farber Cancer Institute	Kufe, Donald W; Wong, Kwok Kin
	Immunomodulation of the Tumor Microenvironment with Molecular Targeted Radiotherapy to Facilitate an Adaptive Anti-Tumor Immune Response to Combined Modality Immunotherapies	University of Wisconsin - Madison	Morris, Zachary Scott; Weichert, Jamey P
	Stimulating Neo-Antigen Specific T Cell Responses in Head and Neck Cancers	La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology	Schoenberger, Stephen Philip; Gutkind, J Silvio; Rao, Anjana
	Targeting the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment to Enhance Efficacy of Radiotherapy and Immuno-radiotherapy for Oral Cancer	Baylor College of Medicine	Sikora, Andrew Gregory; Annapragada, Ananth V
	Molecular and Immune Drivers of Immunotherapy Responsiveness in Prostate Cancer	Dana Farber Cancer Institute	Van Allen, Eliezer M; Fong, Lawrence
	Targeting Alternative Splicing for TCR Discovery in Small Cell Carcinomas	University of California - Los Angeles	Witte, Owen N; Crooks, Gay M; Xing, Yi
	Epithelium-derived Alarmins Role in Breast Cancer Immunoprevention	Massachusetts General Hospital	Demehri, Shadmehr
	Neoantigen Vaccination for Lynch Syndrome Immunoprevention	Weill Medical College of Cornell University	Lipkin, Steven M; Vilar-Sanchez, Eduardo
Immuno-Oncology Translation Network (IOTN): Data Management and Resource-Sharing Center (DMRC) (U24)	Immuno-Oncology Translation Network: Data Management and Resource-Sharing Center at RPCI	Roswell Park Cancer Institute	Hutson, Alan David; Liu, Song; Morgan, Martin T; Odunsi, Kunle O
Immuno-Oncology Translation Network (IOTN): Cellular Immunotherapy Data Resource (CIDR) (U24)	Immuno-Oncology Translation Network (IOTN): Cellular Immunotherapy Data Resource (CIDR)	Medical College of Wisconsin	Horowitz, Mary Maresca
Canine Immunotherapy Trials and Correlative Studies (U01)	Canine Immuno Neurotherapeutics	University of Alabama at Birmingham	Chambers, M.R.
	Enhancing the Efficacy of Immunotherapy in DLBCL using Rational Combination Approaches	Tufts University	London, Cheryl A; Richards, Kristy L
	Novel Combined Immunotherapeutic Strategies for Glioma: Using Pet Dogs as a Large Animal Spontaneous Model	University of Minnesota	Pluhar, Grace Elizabeth
	Enhancing Natural Killer Immunotherapy with First-in-Dog Trials of Inhaled Recombinant IL-15 and Super-agonist IL-15 in Naturally Occurring Canine Cancers	University of California at Davis	Canter, Robert; Rebhun, Robert
	Optimizing Novel Immunotherapy Combinations Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment in Canine Spontaneous Osteosarcoma	Colorado State University	Dow, Steven W; London, Cheryl A
Coordinating Center for Canine Immunotherapy Trials and Correlative Studies (U24)	Coordinating Center for Canine Immunotherapy Trials and Correlative Studies	University of Pennsylvania	Mason, Nicola J; Propert, Kathleen Jjoy
Consortium for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) Translational Studies on the Tumor Microenvironment (U01)	Interrupting Cellular Crosstalk in the Immunosuppressive Microenvironment of Pancreas Cancer	University of Michigan	Crawford, Howard C; Pasca Di Magliano, Marina
	Systematic Interrogation of the Pancreatic Cancer Microenvironment in Patient-Derived Specimens	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	Hahn, William C
	Defining Neoantigen Immunodominance for Antigen Selection and Biomarker Discovery in Human Pancreatic Cancer Immunotherapy	Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research	Balachandran, Vinod P; Leach, Steven D
	Disrupting the Immune and Drug-Privileged Microenvironment in Pancreas Cancer	Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center	Hingorani, Sunil R
	Reprogramming Pdac Tumor Microenvironment to Improve Immunotherapy	Massachusetts General Hospital	Jain, Rakesh K; Pittet, Mikael
Resource Center for the Consortium for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) Translational Studies (U24)	Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Translational Resource Center (Patrec)	University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center	Wistuba, Ignacio I; Maitra, Anirban
Metabolic Reprogramming to Improve Immunotherapy (R01)	Directing the Metabolic Fate of CAR T Cells	University of Pennsylvania	June, Carl H
Metabolic Reprogramming to Improve Immunotherapy (R01)	Metabolic Reprogramming of Tregs in Tumor Immunity	St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital	Chi, Hongbo