Research summary
Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment that looks to the body’s own immune system to beat cancer. Although it doesn’t work for all types of cancer, or for all cancer patients, immunotherapy offers another way to treat patients alongside traditional methods such as chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy.
As Canada Research Chair in Cancer Immunology, Dr. Jongbok Lee is investigating the biology and therapeutic use of a unique subset of immune cells called double-negative T cells (DNTs) that target and kill the malformed blood cells produced by cancer. He and his research team aim to better understand the interactions between these immune cells and cancer cells. They are studying various treatment strategies using DNTs in order to develop new immunotherapy options for cancer patients who do not respond to other treatments.