Date: Tuesday 24th October 2023, 12.30 - 2.00pm
Venue: Early Cancer Institute, Cambridge
Register: https://eci-seminar-james-reading.eventbrite.co.uk
The seminar series from the Early Cancer Institute aims to connect researchers in the early cancer detection and diagnosis space to share knowledge and spark collaboration. Join fellow researchers for lunch and an opportunity to network.
On Tuesday 24th October we welcome Dr James Reading, Group leader, Pre-Cancer Immunology laboratory, UCL Cancer Institute to speak on: ‘Targeting early T cell regulation to intercept lung squamous carcinogenesis'.
This event will take place in the Early Cancer Institute, Adrian Way, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0XZ
Abstract: My team view the development of cancer as a failure of immune surveillance. Yet the initial defects in adaptive immunity that precipitate cancer development remain a mystery. Here, we identify a highly suppressive Treg cell subset (CIS-Treg) which vigorously expands during human and murine pulmonary carcinogenesis. We leverage this subset to develop a prototype multi-omic blood biomarker that forecasts lung cancer development in smokers under bronchoscopy surveillance. We then identify and prophylactically target a pharmacologically druggable pathway selectively expressed in human and murine CIS-Tregs, yielding a 50% reduction in lung tumours; highlighting a new strategy for lung cancer prevention.
Speaker bio: James Reading is a T cell immunologist, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Group Leader of the Pre-Cancer Immunology laboratory at the UCL Cancer Institute. His team seeks to understand when and how T cell regulation begins during carcinogenesis, with the aim of plotting an immunological roadmap for cancer interception. They apply multi-omic antigen-specific T cell profiling and functional analysis in clinical specimens and autochthonous murine models to characterise immune regulation during preinvasive progression.
James studied T cell regulation and exhaustion in the context of viral infection, autoimmunity, and transplantation at King’s College London and in industry throughout my PhD and early postdoctoral period. He completed his training by switching to lung cancer Immunology in Prof Sergio Quezada’s laboratory working alongside Prof Charles Swanton’s group in the TRACERx study. Their work focused on intra-tumoural and systemic neoantigen specific T cell differentiation during lung cancer progression and checkpoint blockade.
Lunch is provided from 12:30pm, the talk will begin at 1.00pm followed by a Q&A. Please ensure you arrive promptly.