Cancer Research in Switzerland - Krebsliga Schweiz

Together, the results of this project demonstrate the
promise of this lentiviral based vaccine. They also clearly
illustrate the need for combining effective vaccines with
immunomodulatory compounds that can leverage tumour
protection by relieving the immunosuppressive tumour
environment. Similar conclusions have been reached by
independent laboratories using a relatively large variety of
anti­cancer vaccines. Thus, translation of these results to
the clinic calls for efforts to identify the best combination
therapies in terms of clinical efficacy. We plan to continue
our preclinical studies with the aim of accelerating the
process of identification of effective combinatorial immunotherapies.
Project coordinator
Prof. Dr Pedro Romero
Division d’onco­immunologie clinique
Centre Ludwig de recherche sur le cancer
Avenue Pierre­Decker 4
CH­1005 Lausanne
Phone +41 (0)21 314 01 98
Fax +41 (0)21 314 74 77
pedro.romero@inst.hospvd.ch
Rüegg Curzio | Role of integrins and CYR61/CCN1
in tumor metastasis: Unraveling mechanisms and
development of novel integrin inhibitors
(OCS 02020­02­2007)
Introduction
Tumour progression to local invasion and metastasis formation
are of utmost clinical relevance, since they often
determine patient prognosis. Furthermore, cancers relapsing
after initial therapy tend to become more aggressive,
are more difficult to treat and form metastases more
often. Despite the clinical relevance, however, the cellular
and molecular mechanisms governing the formation of
metastases are still not well understood. Thus, there is a
profound need to develop new therapeutic tools capable
of interfering with metastasis formation. We recently
identified the extracellular matrix (CYR61/CCN1) and one
of its receptors (integrin aVb5) as two proteins collaborating
to promote metastasis of cancers relapsing after
radiotherapy. Importantly, a pharmacological inhibitor of
the receptor prevented metastasis formation. But the exact
mechanisms beyond this effect are not well known.