My research is focusing on the role of adrenergic stress, mediated by Noradrenaline, in order to understand the biological mechanism through which stress affects the adaptive immune response against ovarian cancer.
It has been demonstrated that adrenergic signalling affects tumour burden and invasion in the context of ovarian cancer, but it also has the capacity of regulating immune functions. I am particularly interested in the activation of T-cells, how they invade the tumour mass and the process through which cancer cells escape the immune response promoting immunosuppression. My project aims to highlight how the adrenergic stress is important in the immunomodulation of the ovarian cancer microenvironment, specifically in T-cell activation and infiltration into the tumour.
The cancer therapies I am studying are based on the immune checkpoint blockade with monoclonal antibodies against PD-1 or PD-L1. This new therapeutic approach to cancer enhances the immune response by blocking the immunosuppressive process activated by the tumour.
The final goal of my project is to have a translational combined therapy for ovarian cancer to restore the immune efficiency and minimize the stress negative effect.