PhD defence F.H.W.P. (Floris) Dammeijer

Our immune system continuously monitors our body for invading micro-organisms and cancerous cells. Unfortunately, cancer cells often circumvent our immune system and tumors develop. Immunotherapy aims to ‘unchain’ immune cells called T cells which destroy the tumor cells. The majority of patients, however, do not respond durably to immunotherapy and eventually relapse. In this thesis, we have discovered that cancer cells not only restrain T cells locally in the tumor but have a far more wide-acting effect on distant sites including lymph nodes. This supports the notion that cancer is a systemic disease rather than an organ-specific disease. We found that anti-tumor T-cells are confined to tumor-draining lymph nodes and that anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy activates these T cells and releases them to travel to the tumor and induce tumor regressions in mice. Alternatively, we used novel cancer vaccination strategies to optimally induce T cells in lymph nodes leading to increased survival in tumor models. Some of these approaches are currently being tested in advanced stage cancer patients to test their safety and early efficacy. This thesis demonstrates that studying cancer-immune relationships at a systemic (macro) level yields novel immunotherapeutic strategies with the aim of improving cancer survival.

The public defence will take place at the Prof. Andries Queridoroom, 3rd floor Education Center, Erasmus MC. The ceremony will begin exactly at 15.30 PM. In light of the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.