Oncode created a clinical Proof-of-Concept fund (cPoC) to support the clinical translation of Oncode’s fundamental research. Together with support from our OEDES team, Clinical Advisory board and Valorization team, Oncode Investigators and their co-workers are developing their research into pre-clinical and clinical projects.

We are pleased to announce that the 7^th grant with the cPoC programme has been awarded to Oncode Investigator Sjoerd van der Burg (LUMC), his colleague Thorbald van Hall (LUMC) and pulmonary oncologist Joachim Aerts (Erasmus MC). Together they will develop TEIPP (T-cell epitopes associated with impaired peptide processing)-targeting immunotherapy, a potential anticancer vaccine.

Immunotherapy is an important part of the treatment of some cancers and help the immune system by recognizing and killing cancer cells. Unfortunately, tumors have developed several escape mechanisms, including losing the presentation of T-cell epitopes on cancer cells leading to failure of tumor-reactive T-cells to recognize and kill these tumor cells. Sjoerd and colleagues have developed a vaccine for cancer patients, with the goal to specifically stimulate the immune system to make the cancer cells available again for recognition by the immune cells. After years of fundamental research by them, this project will now be continued in a clinical setting for non-small cell lung cancer.