Lloyd Bod, PhD, Wade F. B. Thompson CLIP Investigator Massachusetts General Hospital Area of Research: Colorectal Cancer Dr. Bod’s research focuses on understanding immune checkpoint receptors on B cells and it can have important clinical implications for the development of novel strategies for the treatment of colorectal cancers (CRC) and other solid cancers. CRC is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has shown promise in the treatment of advanced CRC, particularly in patients with tumors that have deficient DNA mismatch repair known as MMRd. However, approximately 85% of CRC cases have proficient DNA mismatch repair (MMRp), which demonstrate little or no response to ICB therapy. Thus, there is a clinical unmet need for effective treatments for patients with MMRp CRC. While current ICB therapies focus on targeting receptors that suppress immune responses on T cells, recent studies suggest that B cells play a role in the response to ICB in patients with advanced solid cancers. Dr. Bod’s proposed study will discern how this novel B cell checkpoint receptor functions to regulate immune responses to tumors. He has identified a receptor that is expressed in B cells and increases in expression as tumors advance. Dr. Bod’s data indicates that this receptor functions as a B cell specific checkpoint receptor as its absence improves anti-cancer immune responses. These findings uncover a novel area in CRC research, namely the investigation of B cell checkpoints that comprise novel targets that can be harnessed to extend the benefit of immunotherapy to cancer patients. Projects and Grants B cell mediated immune regulation: A novel target for cancer immunotherapy Massachusetts General Hospital | Colorectal Cancer | 2023
