Mobilizing anti-tumor immunity by targeting chemerin receptor CCRL2

Researchers at Stanford have developed a new, patented strategy to enhance anti-tumor immune responses to treat cancer. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and inflicts a tremendous burden on public health. Harnessing the immune system to destroy tumor cells is a promising therapeutic strategy. However, most current cancer immunotherapies selectively activate only a limited repertoire of anti-tumor immune defenses and often have incomplete efficacy. To overcome these limitations, the inventors have developed a new strategy to facilitate recruitment of anti-tumor immune cells into tumor tissue by exploiting chemerin. Chemerin is a chemoattractant that directs recruitment of anti-tumor immune cells, including NK cells. The inventors have identified a chemerin-sequestering receptor, CCRL2, which restricts chemerin-dependent recruitment of tumor fighting immune cells. This technology provides methods of inhibiting CCRL2 to enhance the anti-tumor immune response to treat cancer.

Stage of research
Initial studies have shown great promise. Additional development and validation is ongoing.