Using anti-cancer viruses to improve immunotherapy for breast cancer

Immunotherapies are treatments that turn our own bodies’ immune systems against cancer. They’ve been very successful for treating people with cancers other than breast cancer. But their use in breast cancer so far is limited. That’s why we need more research, so that more people with breast cancer can benefit from this type of treatment. 

There’s a type of immunotherapy that uses special anti-cancer viruses to infect and destroy cancer cells. It’s still being researched, but it’s very promising, and researchers are looking for ways to improve it. They want to increase the chance that these viruses turn on the strongest possible immune response against breast cancer.

Professor Alan Melcher and his team use special viruses to target breast cancer cells. These viruses were initially developed to infect and destroy cancer cells. But they can also turn on the immune system to help it recognise and get rid of cancer.

Alan’s team want to find ways to boost different types of breast cancer treatments using these anti-cancer viruses. They’re also working to better understand how our immune system reacts to breast cancer and its different treatments.

Alan and his team are focusing on 3 projects:

1. Combining anti-cancer viruses with other therapies to treat breast cancer
   

   Alan and his team are testing anti-cancer viruses in the lab, both on breast cancer cells and in mice. They’re testing these treatments on their own and in combination with other targeted breast cancer drugs. These other drugs are called CDK4/6 inhibitors (like palbociclib) and PARP inhibitors (like olaparib). 

   The researchers want to find out which combinations effectively turn the immune system against breast cancer, and are overall most effective at killing breast cancer cells. They’re also studying the underlying mechanisms behind the most successful combinations. 

2. Testing new vaccine treatments for triple negative breast cancer
   

   Alan and his team are investigating new ways to target a protein called HORMAD1. HORMAD1 is present in over 60% of triple negative breast cancers and causes changes in the DNA of cancer cells.

   Alan’s team want to test new vaccine treatments that target HORMAD1. They’re testing the same type of vaccine as the COVID-19 vaccine. They’re also testing an entirely new approach in which an anti-cancer virus and a vaccine treatment are given together.

3. Improving CAR-T cell therapy for breast cancer using radiotherapy and anti-cancer viruses
   

   CAR-T cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy treatment which is used to treat some blood cancers, but so far hasn’t worked well for breast cancer.

   Recently, Professor Clare Isacke found that targeting a protein called endosialin using CAR-T cell therapy could stop breast cancer growing and spreading. Alan and his team are now working with Clare to improve this immunotherapy.

   They’re investigating if combining CAR-T cell therapy with radiotherapy improves the effectiveness. And they’re testing combinations of CAR-T cell therapy and anti-cancer viruses. 

Alan’s research will give us a better understanding of how our immune system reacts to breast cancer and its different treatments. This will help us design new ways to help our own immune system get rid of breast cancer cells. This could make treatments more effective, and give people longer-term protection from breast cancer returning. 

Thousands. Around 55,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK. By discovering new, more effective treatments, this project could help people with all types of breast cancer.