TOPIC 396: NON-INVASIVE DETECTION OF HUMAN CD8+ T CELLS: A PET-BASED APPROACH TO ASSESS THE HUMAN IMMUNESYSTEM - MOONSHOT

Immunotherapy has shown impressive success in treating several cancershoweverresponses to treatment are variableand predicting the response to therapy remains a major obstacleBiopsy analyses has correlated good prognosis with infiltration of CDT cells into the tumor and recent preclinical work suggests that tracking of CDT cells in tumors using single domain antibodyVHHbased PET imaging can accurately predict response to immunotherapy in miceFurthermoreVHH PEGylation dramatically enhances the sensitivity of this PET imagingThe objectives of this research are tocreate a VHH specific for human CDdevelop a non enzymaticsite specific chemistry to allow for a GMP scalable dual conjugation of the VHH to a PEG molecule and radioisotopeandvalidate this reagent for PET based imaging of human CDT cell trafficking in a humanized mouse modelThe successful completion of these objectives will provide the foundation for translation of this innovative technology to a clinical setting as aCDScanthe first of its kind to non invasively track the human immune systemThis technology will become the next standard of careused in conjunction with immunotherapy to rapidly assess responses to treatment and tailor treatment with the greatest therapeutic benefit