LIGHT-ing up prostate cancer: remodeling the tumor microenvironment and enhancing therapeutic vaccine efficacy through forced LIGHT expression in prostate cancer

2015-01-24Prostate cancer affects approximately 200,000 men and account for 30,000 deaths annually in the United States alone. This major health problem cost Americans $255.6 million dollars in health care and even then, current treatments for prostate cancer including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, may lead to devastating side effects such as impotence and incontinence. Prostate cancer immunotherapy offers an advantage to patients, avoiding these potential side effects, where a patient’s own immune system is stimulated and taught to eradicate the existing tumor. The goal of this research is to improve current therapeutic vaccines by boosting the immune system with a new treatment, LIGHT, in combination with a prostate cancer therapeutic vaccine. This study will assess the efficacy of combination immunotherapy treatment and measure survival in a prostate cancer mouse model that mimics prostate cancer progression in a subset of patients. With this translational project, we will generate a synergistic combination therapy that will push the field of prostate cancer immunotherapy forward, providing a curative option for patients of this disease