Anti-Tumor Immunotherapy: From Biology to Clinical Applications

Recommended Prerequisites

NA

Teaching Methods

The student must attend the theory classes, after having previously read and understood the recommended bibliography. In the first day, a general overview on how the subject is structured will be given, as well as the contents of the subject. The student must attend all the lab and data analysis training. The student must attend the seminars, in which each of them will individually present a recent or controversial paper already published (of interest in cancer immunobiology and/or anti-tumor immunotherapy) and then will collectively discussed with the teacher and the other students.

Learning Outcomes

Understanding the basic principles of tumor immunology. Improve knowledge on immunotherapy basis applied for cancer treatment. Ability to understand and critically comment on scientific results on the field of cancer immunology. Ability to integrate all the information on this field, to understand the clinical application of cancer immunology.
•Ability to critically analyze, orally present and discuss relevant research papers published on cancer immunology and anti-tumor immunotherapy.
Specific skills
Acquisition of skills and ability to interpret laboratory results derived from the study of tumor cells, of interest in the field on immunotherapy.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Theory:
I – IMMUNE SYSTEM AND CANCER: GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF TUMOR IMMUNITY;
II – ANTI-TUMOR IMMUNOTHERAPY: PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGIES;
III – CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF ANTI-TUMOR IMMUNOTHERAPY;
Lab training / data analysis with specific software programs
Lesson 1. Flow cytometer. Techniques for staining membrane surface molecules of immune cells.
Seminars:
Students will individually present scientific papers either on hot / controversial aspects in the field of “Immunology and Cancer” or on other contents of the subject directly related with their master theses. After oral presentation, the presented study will be collectively discussed.
Scientific lectures:
Attendance and academic use (to be evaluated) to at least one scientific lecture on “anti-tumor immunotherapy”, given by prestigious speakers invited by the teachers responsible for the subject.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Other: 5.0%
Synthesis work: 20.0%
Research work: 30.0%
Exam: 45.0%

Bibliography

Almagro JC, Daniels-Wells TR, Perez-Tapia SM et at. Progress and challenges in the design and clinical development of antibodies for cancer therapy. Front Immunol 2018; 8: art 01751.
Borst J, Ahrends T, Babala N, et al. CD4+ T cell helper in cancer immunology and immunotherapy. Nat Rev Immunol 2018; 18: 635.
Cuesta-Mateos C, Alcaraz-Serna A, Somovilla-Crespo B, et al. Monoclonal antibody therapies for hematological malignancies: not just lineage-specific targets. Front Immunol 2018; 8: art 01936.
Farhood B, Najafi M, Mortezaee K. CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes in cancer immunotherapy: A review. J Cell Physiol 2019; 234: 8509.
Gao J, Bernatchez C, Sharma P et al. Advances in the development of cancer immunotherapies. Trends in Immunology 2013; 34: 90.
Kartikasari A, Prakash M, Cox M, et al. Therapeutic cancer vaccines - T cell responses and epigenetic modulation. Front Immunol 2019; 9: art 03109