Purpose and Aim: To study the mechanisms behind how the innate immune system in late stage cancer patients is suppressed, with consequences and how to restore it.

Survey of the field: Lymphocytes of the adaptive immune system can eradicate tumor cells. For this they need to be activated by cells of the innate immune system. It is clear however, that tumors skew the immune system towards a “tolerogenic” faith, leading to immune-paralysis. In this state the immune response is suppressed by the tumor and even induces a wound healing processes stimulating tumor progression. All these mechanisms are mediated by innate immune cells.

The focus of this project is on innate immune cell populations, their effect on the adaptive immune system, immune tolerance and metastatic processes in breast cancer.

Results and Planned work: This is done using human material and mouse models of breast cancer metastasis. My research has a strong translational character with clinical collaborations and primary material as base in all projects. 

Relevance: Understanding the immune suppression in breast cancer patients may lead to insights into treatment responses, resistance mechanisms and novel treatment modalities aimed to hinder this phenomenon which would eventually encumber the devastating progression of breast cancer metastasis.