Research
1. Adoptive cell therapy
Immune cells invade and recognise cancer cells in the body, but these are often low in number and become exhausted and therefore unable to control tumour growth. We are able to expand tumour infiltrating lymphocytes in the lab, which can be transferred back in to cancre patients with a more favourable profile.We have successfully treated patients through various clinical trials with immune cells For 20 years, and recently published a multicentre phase III clinical trial, showing an efficacy of approximately 40%, and full cure in 20% of patients.
2. Next generation T cells
Using our knowledge of adoptive cell therapy with tumour infiltrating T cells, we are able to take research from the lab and take it to the clinic. We genetically engineer TILs to overexpress proteins such as cytokines and stemness factors, knockout of Immune checkpoints, equipping of T cells with killer receptors such as chimeric antigen receptors and T cells receptors. We also seek to generate a more tumour reactive T cell product by genetically engineering the tumour cells directly, through the use of oncolytic viruses, or expression of cell specific antigen processing machinery to diversify the T cell response. Our bench to bedside pipeline of approved clinical trials includes lentiviral transduction of interleukin 7, knockout of PD1 and CAR T-cell production for ALL and lymphoma.
3. Immune-related toxicities
Patients receiving immunotherapy for cancer may experience a wide range of toxicities due to unintended immune responses targeting healthy tissues. These immune-related toxicities can affect any organ in the body, sometimes leading to severe complications or even death, and often lead to the discontinuation of cancer treatment. Our group is dedicated to uncovering the mechanisms behind both the onset of these toxicities and the current management strategies. We aim to use this knowledge to develop improved management approaches and to predict the most effective treatment strategies for individual patients.¨
4. Real world data
We conduct real-world, population-based registry studies using high-quality data from databases of cancer patients, such as the Danish Metastatic Melanoma Database (DAMMED). These studies evaluate efficacy, adverse events, and biomarker validity across broad cancer patient populations. We translate clinical trial treatments into clinical practice, such as implementing Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy for metastatic melanoma in the Early Access Program.
5. Improving treatment in difficult-to-treat populations
Exploring checkpoint inhibitor treatment in patient populations that are generally not included in larger clinical trials. This also includes early phase clinical testing of addition of anti-cancer vaccines
Ongoing/upcoming projects
MEMBRAINS NCT03563729
Ocular melanoma
CheckVac NCT05721846
CheckPac NCT02866383
CheckPro NCT05655715