Abstract

This Cambridge Immunology and Medicine Seminar will take place on Thursday 27 February 2025, starting at 4:00pm, in the Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre (JCBC)

Speaker: Seth Coffelt, Professor of Cancer Immunology, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute

Title: “The multifaceted roles of gamma delta T cell subsets in colon cancer”

Abstract: Understanding how immune cells impact cancer progression and metastasis is the major focus of the Coffelt lab. Specifically, we are interested in the mechanisms by which gd T cells participate in tumour evolution: from early stages of initiation to late stages of cancer spread. gd T cells encompass several phenotypically and functionally different subsets, including those that traffic between organs and lymph nodes as well as those that remain fixed within specific organs. We and others have shown that these gd T cell subsets can be either tumour-promoting or tumour-opposing. Recently, we have focused our efforts on gd T cells in colon cancer, asking questions about their behaviour during tumour evolution. Using genetically engineered mouse models of colon cancer, we have found that gut-resident Vg7 cells participate in cancer immunosurveillance, but are excluded from the tumour microenvironment. Current efforts are focused on understanding how pro-tumour gd T cells, including Vg4 and Vg6 cells, play a role in tumour initiation. Acquiring this knowledge may help in the design of new immunotherapies for patients with colon cancer

Host: Virginia Pedicord, CITIID , Cambridge

Refreshments will be available following the seminar.