Cancer immunotherapies use the body’s own immune cells to fight tumors such as malignant melanoma. A promising approach is adoptive T-cell transfer, in which a patient’s T cells are modified in the laboratory and returned to the body to help target cancer cells. Identifying suitable tumor-specific T cells, however, is technically demanding and time-consuming, which currently limits the broader use of this therapy.

In this project, the scientists will use the CATCH assay, a method for high-throughput measurement of the binding strength (avidity) between T-cell receptors and presented tumor antigens. This could allow a more systematic and efficient identification of tumor-reactive T-cell receptors. In the long term, the data could contribute to the development of a repository of therapeutic T-cell receptors. They will also investigate whether this approach could serve as a biomarker to identify patients who are most likely to benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.