Immunopathology Core

Project Summary - Immunopathology Core A central unifying hypothesis of this research program is that MCC – both viral and UV-damage associated - is a highly immunogenic tumor and, consequently, amenable to immune-oncologic intervention. This hypothesis is supported by the presence of virus-specific T cells and antibodies in many of the patients as well as an approximate 50% objective response rate (ORR) in metastatic MCC patients treated with monotherapy anti- PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Unfortunately, many patients still fail to respond to PD-1 blockade. The overarching goal of the Immunopathology Core is to provide cutting-edge, slide-based, and molecular technologies to interrogate the tumor microenvironment (TME), specifically to apply spatial proteomics to understanding the critical cell-cell interactions occurring within the TME that either enable or disable productive anti-tumor immune responses. We anticipate that these mechanistic insights will inform future combination immune-oncology trials in MCC patients.