Oncoimmunology Lab

• Federica Cavallo, Laura Conti, Elena Quaglino Principal Investigators

• Irene Fiore Merighi Technician

• Federica Riccardo Research Fellow

• Giuseppina Barutello, Elisabetta Bolli, Roberto Ruiu, Lidia Tarone Senior Post-doctoral Fellows

• Zubyeah Arshad, Chiara Cossu, Antonino Di Lorenzo, Antonella Iacoviello, Giulia Peppino Ph.D. Students

The OncoImmunology Lab, led by Prof. Federica Cavallo, Prof. Laura Conti and Prof. Elena Quaglino, has dedicated the last decade to developing and testing immunotherapy for cancer in translational preclinical settings. Their focus includes the study of Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) as a primary target antigen in a subset of breast cancers. Using preclinical models, such as transgenic mice carrying an activated form of HER2, or mice challenged with HER2+ cancer cells, the Lab has demonstrated the efficacy of anti-HER2 DNA vaccines (patents US8389494B2 and US8207141B2) and virus-based vaccines in preventing and controlling mammary tumor progression. The current research lines of the OncoImmunology Lab focus on targeting antigen expressed by cancer-stemcells (CSC). Indeed, being CSC refractory to most current anti-cancer therapies, they are responsible for the development of recurrences and metastasis. The Lab has identified several promising CSC antigens (Quaglino, E, Cavallo, F, Conti, L. Cancer stem cell antigens as targets for new combined anti-cancer therapies. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2020; Doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2020.105861) employing a high-throughput screening based on Next-Generation Sequencing (Quaglino, E, Conti, L, Cavallo, F. Breast cancer stem cell antigens as targets for immunotherapy. Semin Immunol. 2020. Doi: 10.1016/j.smim.2020.101386) and is exploring various vaccination platforms, including oncolytic viruses, virus-like particles, and primarily DNAbased vaccines, to target these CSC antigens. Other research areas include understanding the role of immunosurveillance in controlling mammary tumor initiation, growth, and response to vaccination, applying maternal immunization to prevent cancer, and using combined therapies to revert the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The collaborative efforts of the three Principal Investigators have led to significant milestones in tumor immunology and immunotherapy. Each Investigator leads a research program examining the functional role of one or more identified CSC antigens in cancer and the antitumor efficacy of their targeting in vivo. The OncoImmunology Lab’s achievements have also been made possible thanks to international, national, and “in-house” – at the Molecular Biotechnology Center “Guido Tarone” - collaborations, and partnerships with companies, such as Galena Biopharma Inc (San Ramon, US), ImmunoGenesis (Houston, US), Indena srl (Milan, Italy), OSIVAX (Lyon, France), Vaxxas Inc (Cambridge, US) and YGION Biomedical GmbH (Vienna, Austria). Overall, the OncoImmunology Lab aims to understand the role of tumor-associated antigens in cancer initiation, growth, metastasis, and resistance to conventional therapies. Its goal is to develop innovative immunotherapies that activate the patients’ immune system to safely eradicate cancer, preventing recurrence and metastases.