Treatment Innovation
Tier 1: Improving TNBC Treatment Innovation
Our immune system is a powerful organic arsenal designed to identify and fight pathogens, and is central to our work to develop new treatment strategies for TNBC.
Immune cells detect cancer by finding degrading cancer cells or by recognizing certain “red flag” proteins on/from tumor cells. These immune cells respond by sending cellular armies to kill tumors with those specific markers.
Over time, however, an immune cell can become exhausted from this fight or can be silenced by the tumor itself – both situations can result in suboptimal tumor control. Drug therapies called checkpoint inhibitors reawaken immune attention to tumor cells, but, while they are now standard care for TNBC, they don’t work optimally for everyone.
Efforts at UNC revolve around discovering and identifying new TNBC-specific tumor targets, then developing cellular therapies specifically designed to act upon these targets.
Harnessing CAR-T
One strategy, CAR-T therapy, is a process of engineering a patient’s T-cells (immune cell) with a specific homing mechanism to better find and kill tumor cells.
As part of the tremendous foundational gift, UNC launched the first-of-its-kind CAR-T clinical trial for TNBC in July 2024.
The TNBC CAR-T clinical trial is led by Barbara Savoldo, MD, PhD, Gianpietro Dotti, MD, and Jonathan Serody, MD.
Other immune-based treatment investigations include novel antigen identification for development of cellular and vaccine therapies for TNBC, and the use of radiation as an immune sensitizer prior to chemotherapy.
Research Insights
Hear from our researchers about the collaboration and innovation of the UNC Lineberger Center for Triple Negative Breast Cancer.
Radiation
Gaorav Gupta, MD, PhD, talks about bringing together radiation and immunotherapy findings to incorporate into future clinical trials to make a big impact.
“We need to think outside the box to develop new approaches. And that’s where the greatest impact of the Center will be, in developing those new approaches that break down conventional wisdom of how we treat this disease.”
Personalized Neoantigens
Benjamin Vincent, MD, talks about advancing research from the lab through designing the best new trials to help patients.
“It’s the best idea coming out of a lot of labs working together, which allows us to have the best chance of helping people.”
Vaccine and Cellular Therapy
Paul Armistead, MD, PhD, talks about building research from findings on a series of antigens expressed in triple negative breast cancer, and the importance of the gift supporting the Center to drive translational science.
“It’s very hard to get funding to do these sorts of translational projects, which are terrific for developing early phase studies or making some kind of clinical investigation to actually treat patients and make patient outcomes better.”