Funded by the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund
Cancer immunotherapy is a treatment that helps the body’s immune system fight cancer. It works very well for some cancers, but it is less effective in infants and children. One reason is that the young immune system is built to turn down strong reactions. This helps babies avoid harmful inflammation when they first eat food or meet the friendly bacteria in their gut. The Brown Lab recently found a new type of immune cell, called Thetis cells. These cells play an important role in suppressing immune responses during early life. We think they may also train the immune system not to attack cancers, which lets tumors grow. In this project, we will study how Thetis cells act in childhood cancers such as hepatoblastoma and use what we learn to design new treatments.
