The Society of Interventional Oncology (SIO) and the therapy development company BTG have chosen five winners of this year’s Immuno-Oncology/Interventional Oncology research grants.
They founded the program in 2017 to fund cutting-edge immunotherapy projects. This includes research on how cancer therapies stimulate the immune system, on how certain therapies can influence the immune system more than others, and on combining immunotherapy with other treatment approaches.
The winning proposals and the researchers who submitted them are:
- “Strategies to Modulate Liver Tumor Immune Microenvironment after Catheter-based Drug Delivery,” Rony Avritscher, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
- “Characterization of the Immunobiologic Response Following Transarterial Chemoembolization of HCC,” Terence Gade, University of Pennsylvania.
- “Y90 Radioembolization Combined with Immune Checkpoint Blockade in an Animal Model of Hepatocellular,” Samdeep Mouli, Northwestern University.
- “Effects of Cryoablation on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cancer Stem Cells and the Immune Response,” Isabel Newton, University of California, San Diego.
- “Tumor-Induced Tolerance in Driving Embolization Resistance and Waitlist/Transplant Outcomes,” Paul Thevenot, Ochsner Health System.
“We are very pleased that with the continued generosity of BTG,” whose treatment focus has been liver tumors, blood clots, varicose veins and advanced emphysema, Dr. S. Nahum Goldberg said in a press release.
Goldberg, the chair of SIO’s Interventional/Immuno-oncology Working Group, said the second round of the grants involves “cutting-edge research that combines the strengths of interventional oncology and immuno-oncology — two disciplines that hold great promise for improving cancer therapy.
“Once again, the large number of high-quality submissions to this grant call attests to the sustained intense interest of interventional oncologists worldwide to continue to advance our field through robust scientific inquiry and clinical study. We’re proud that, to date, SIO has been able to fund nine projects representing a diverse set of outstanding investigators and projects.”
“We’re thrilled by the quality of these proposals and to see interventional radiologists working alongside their colleagues in the oncology community to unlock the potential of combining these therapies,” said Karen Skinner, BTG’s vice president of immune oncology research and development. “We believe this collaborative approach is the best way to accelerate our understanding of this field, and help expand the number of cancer patients who might benefit from the immuno-oncology revolution.
The SIO is holding its 2018 World Congress of Interventional Oncology in Boston, June 7-10.
