Mission
The Center for Cancer Immunotherapy aims to harness and amplify the cancer-fighting potential of a wide variety of immune cells to dramatically increase the number of cancer patients who benefit from cancer immunotherapy.
Overview
The Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at La Jolla Institute is at the forefront of exploring new and sometimes unexpected avenues for novel immune-based cancer treatments, as well as predicting and improving the effectiveness of existing immunotherapies. It brings together some of the world’s most innovative scientists, who are not afraid to leave the beaten path and tackle major questions in new ways: How to select the best targets for personalized cancer vaccines? How to predict which patients will respond to cancer immunotherapy and how to overcome tumor resistance? How to engage hitherto ignored types of immune cells in the fight against cancer?
What is cancer immunotherapy?
Cancer immunotherapies rally a patient’s immune cells to attack tumor cells and are a source of great hope in cancer care. Several of them are specifically designed to supercharge T cells, which use receptors on their surface to scan anything they encounter to determine whether it is friend or foe. These game-changing treatments have brought cancer patients back from the brink and vanquished tumors resistant to conventional therapies. Despite being hailed as miracle cures, immune-based cancer therapies actually only benefit a minority of cancer patients. The problem is that tumors have developed a suite of molecular tools to thwart the ability of T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. This challenge has prompted our scientists to look to different divisions of the immune system to overcome tumor cell defenses.
Pediatric Cancer Resource Guide
Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death among children under the age of 19 in the United States. Scientists researching pediatric cancer are looking for the answers that will help us improve treatments and outcomes for childhood cancer patients, and ultimately save lives.
In September 2022, in honor of Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, LJI partnered with the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation to create a fact-based resource guide which provides an overview of pediatric cancer, the funding landscape for current research efforts, and how LJI scientists are contributing to the fight.
Labs
Latest News
No IKAROS, no antibodies
Researchers map the genome to figure out how a protein called IKAROS controls healthy B cell development
A closer look at rebel T cells
LJI researchers investigate a group of T cells known for their unusual response to pathogens
LJI scientists harness ‘helper’ T cells to treat tumors
New preclinical research shows researchers how to give CD4+ and CD8+ T cells more cancer-fighting power
New LJI research has major implications for controlling T cell activity
How a supposed "nuclear" receptor makes TCR signaling possible
LJI scientists solve the mystery of why OGT enzyme is critical for cell survival
LA JOLLA, CA — Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have at last uncovered how an enzyme called
On the trail of missing genes and cancer clues
LJI scientists connect TET loss of function to missing genes in embryonic stem cells